The parents of a man fatally stabbed during a violent confrontation in Jesmond have spoken of a loss that has left them forever scarred, as the man responsible prepares to learn his fate.
A Fatal Struggle and a Legal Saga
Kevin George Smith, 41, appeared in Newcastle District Court on Wednesday, December 17, 2025, for a sentencing hearing after pleading guilty to manslaughter. The charge relates to the death of Daniel Pettersson, who was stabbed once in the chest during a struggle in a Michael Street home on January 6, 2022. The court heard the two men were embroiled in a bitter love triangle.
Smith was originally found guilty of murder by a jury in 2023 and sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in prison, with a non-parole period of 15 years. However, the Court of Criminal Appeal later overturned the murder conviction and ordered a retrial. On October 30 this year, Smith pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter on the basis of excessive self-defence.
A Family's Heartbreak Laid Bare
The sentencing hearing provided a harrowing platform for the Pettersson family to detail the profound void left by Daniel's death. In a victim impact statement read to the court, his father, Alfred, described his son as a friend, confidant, and fishing partner.
"There is not a day that I do not miss him," Alfred Pettersson's statement said. "It's the hardest thing for a father to bury his son."
Daniel's mother, Paula, remembered her son as a successful carpenter who was kind and generous. She delivered a powerful message about the consequences of knife violence.
"This horrific act of violence has left me physically, emotionally and psychologically scarred," she said, adding that such crime should not be tolerated.
The victim's siblings, Andrew and Natasha, also submitted statements conveying their devastation. Andrew spoke of "a void that can never be filled" by his brother's absence. Natasha expressed a small measure of comfort in knowing that a good Samaritan had tried to help her brother in his final moments, as he stumbled onto the street with the fatal wound.
Judgment to End Near Four-Year Ordeal
Judge Timothy Gartelmann is now considering submissions from both the Crown and the defence regarding the circumstances of the stabbing and Smith's background. He is scheduled to hand down the sentence in Newcastle District Court on Thursday, December 18, 2025.
This judgment will finally conclude a legal process that has stretched for almost four years since the fatal incident. For the Pettersson family, it marks another painful step in a journey defined by grief and the enduring memory of a beloved son and brother.
