A MAN who along with his friends ripped off a drug dealer at Cessnock was allegedly later stabbed to death on the Central Coast by the man sent to retrieve the stolen methamphetamine.
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Russel Rajapakse, of Gorokan, on Thursday pleaded not guilty to murdering 26-year-old Corey Breceljnik outside a house at Watanobbi, near Wyong, on October 25, 2020, and faced the first day of a trial in Newcastle Supreme Court.
Mr Rajapakse has also pleaded not guilty to aggravated assault with intent to rob and the three-week trial will focus on whether it was Mr Rajapakse who inflicted the fatal stab wound to Mr Breceljnik's left armpit during a struggle over the stolen drugs.
During his opening address, Crown prosecutor Carl Young told the jury it was the afternoon of October 25, 2020, when Mr Breceljnik and three of his friends arranged to buy an ounce of methamphetamine from a woman at Cessnock.
The group drove from the Central Coast to the Hunter, but at an early point a decision was made to pull of a drug rip and take the methamphetamine without paying, Mr Young said.
The group drove to Cessnock McDonald's and Mr Breceljnik was spotted on CCTV. They then drove to another car park where the woman organising the drug transaction went and sourced the drugs from a friend's house.
Instead of an ounce, which is about 28 grams, the dealers at Cessnock only had about 10 or 11 grams of methamphetamine to supply, Mr Young said.
But as soon as they had hold of it, those in Mr Breceljnik's group ran off with the drugs without paying, triggering a wild pursuit through the streets of Cessnock.
The chase went on for several minutes and included cars being rammed and people screaming at each other, the jury heard.
Eventually, the group from Cessnock gave up and went home and Mr Breceljnik's group headed back to the Central Coast where they split up the methamphetamine.
They dropped one of the crew off at Wyong and the other three, including Mr Breceljnik, went back to a house at Slim Close, Watanobbi.
But 10 minutes later, two men, who the prosecution say was Mr Rajapakse and his friend Anthony Lawlor, arrived. Mr Young said the pair had been called by the drug dealer in Cessnock in a bid to recover their stolen methamphetamine.
Mr Rajapakse and Mr Lawlor were allowed into the house where one witness claims they said: "You've ripped off the wrong people, you need to give everything back. I'll give you a chance to put it on the bed."
An amount of methamphetamine was handed over, but according to witnesses, Mr Breceljnik, known as "Sticks", said he didn't have any drugs to hand over.
At some point he was taken outside by the men and when he returned he was bleeding heavily from a wound under his left armpit and a laceration to his chin.
He was rushed to hospital but died the next day and staff told police they found two grams of methamphetamine stashed in a bag in his underpants.
Mr Young said the drug dealers at Cessnock were never given any of the stolen methamphetamine recovered from the other group.
During her opening address, defence barrister Nicole Carroll said there was no dispute Mr Rajapakse went to the house at Watanobbi to retrieve the stolen drugs and no dispute there was a fight outside the home.
"At no time did he attempt or try to kill anyone," Ms Carroll said. "At no time did he try to cause anyone grievous bodily harm and at no time was he trying to or intending to rob anyone."
The trial, before Justice Sarah McNaughton, continues.
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