A father has forgiven his son’s 21-year-old murderer in emotional scenes inside a Sydney courtroom after a fatal stabbing between footy teammates during an NRL watching party.
Wesley Dates appeared at the NSW Supreme Court on Friday in prison greens for a sentencing hearing after a jury found him guilty in February of stabbing his footy teammate, 18-year-old George Woods, during a “sudden and chaotic” brawl in Sydney’s southwest.
The trial heard how Mr Dates and his older brother Peter were drinking bourbon and Cokes and watching the 2023 NRL grand final with a group of friends inside a unit when Mr Woods and his friend Joshua Ratu arrived.
A fight broke out between Peter and Mr Ratu before Mr Dates pulled out a knife.
Mr Woods was a bystander to the fight and stepped in briefly to try to break up the fight when he was fatally stabbed, the court heard.
On Friday, more than 30 loved ones of the teenager sat in the public gallery, wearing shirts which read: “Justice for G”.
At one point during the hearing, the entire group rose to their feet as Mr Wood’s father, George Woods Senior, spoke about “the type of human he was” during his victim impact statement.
“It speaks for itself the amount of people that have shown up,” he said before the group stood up at the back of the courtroom.
Mr Woods Senior told the court his son and Mr Dates, who were both 18 at the time of the stabbing, played footy together.
“We were only talking about three weeks before (the fatal stabbing) about the great player he was,” Mr Woods senior said.
The father then broke down as he forgave Mr Dates, sitting directly across from him in the courtroom.
“I can only rise and choose peace in myself. In saying that, I forgive you, not for his sake, but for me, and for myself, the universe has a way of working things out,” Mr Woods senior said.
“I had to lose everything in order to find forgiveness.”
At the start of the hearing, Judge Dina Yehia had to settle the public gallery after a loved one of Mr Dates walked into the courtroom. Mr Woods Senior was held down by a loved one as he told the man to leave.
“I can understand emotions to be heightened, but I will say this … if there is one further outburst, the public gallery is going to be cleared completely,” Judge Yehia said.
In his sentencing submissions, Mr Dates’ lawyer Scott Fraser urged Justice Yehia not to “lose all hope” on his client.
“He is still a young man. These events occurred when he was barely an adult, and he is now just in his early 20s,” Mr Fraser said.
“We ought to hope that there is a chance for rehabilitation that this man can make.”
He will be sentenced on May 15.
Wesley’s brother acquitted
In February, Mr Dates’ older brother Peter was acquitted by the jury after he was charged with seriously harming Mr Ratu, who was also involved in the brawl.
Mr Ratu was also stabbed and was seriously injured, but survived.
During the trial, the jury heard how Peter texted a friend about the incident less than half an hour after the stabbing.
“We just stabbed c**ts,” he wrote to a female friend about 30 minutes after the stabbing.
“I told you me and my brother are [a] different breed.
“I think we gonna get done for murder.
“N***er I told you me and Wes is crazy.”
Peter told the police and his mum that he didn’t know that Wesley was going to pull out a knife during the brawl.
The jury heard how in Peter’s police interview, he said he thought Mr Ratu was “going to die”.
“Yeah, I thought the Islander was going to die,” he told police.
“Wesley was going crazy. Wesley just f**king smashed him with it, and I was like fucking hell. And I was just pumping him at the same time.”
Get in touch. Sarah.Keoghan@news.com.au
