Man not guilty of killing homeless friend

Updated: 18:19, Monday March 31, 2014

A man accused of striking his homeless friend with a meat cleaver has been found not guilty of his killing.
Darren McKenzie was left bleeding heavily in a Department of Housing flat in inner Sydney for more than 12 hours on August 25, 2011.
Six days later, the 42-year-old died in hospital.
His friend Shane Morris was later charged with his manslaughter.
But after a nearly two-week trial, a jury at Sydney's District Court on Monday found him not guilty of Mr McKenzie's killing.
It comes after crown prosecutor Peter McGrath told the court earlier this month that Mr McKenzie had been staying with Mr Morris at the Millers Point flat in The Rocks.
He said the pair began arguing in the early hours of August 25, 2011 and that Mr Morris had hit Mr McKenzie with a meat cleaver, causing him to lose his balance and fall on a piece of furniture.
For hours, Mr McKenzie bled heavily from the cut to his head caused by the fall, the jury had heard.
It wasn't until 7pm that Mr McKenzie called for help, telling a triple 'O' operator he had been hit by an intruder.
Mr McGrath said Mr Morris's voice could be heard in the background.
When paramedics arrived they found Mr McKenzie slumped against a wall in the home's hallway.
Blood was also found in the hallway, on a mattress and soaked through a pillow.
Mr Morris told police he had discovered his injured friend when he got home.
The crown had alleged, however, that Mr Morris went to the home of his friend Wayne Cook days after the argument and said: 'What have I done? I shouldn't have hit him, I shouldn't have hit him with a meat cleaver.'