Retrial for man who said he was excited in court and mistakenly pleaded guilty to murdering girlfriend

A MAN who stunned even his defence lawyer when at the start of his trial he pleaded guilty to murdering his girlfriend was overcome by the occasion and now believed he was innocent, a court has been told.

The Court of Appeal in Brisbane upheld an appeal by Bowan Taylor Wade and granted him a retrial.

In the Supreme Court in March, Wade, 20, was charged with the murder of Clarissa Callow, 17, on a property at Caves Rd, off the New England Highway, north of Stanthorpe, on the Granite Belt.

Her body was discovered on August 10, 2009 only months after the pair moved from Bundaberg in the Wide Bay region.

The court heard the trial was set down for seven days and Wade was then arraigned with everyone expecting him to plead not guilty.

But instead he pleaded guilty

His defence lawyer was so taken aback he asked for an adjournment but Wade stuck by his plea.

The court then heard forensics suggested suffocation, mostly likely by hands over her mouth, as the cause of death.

Wade had left Ms Callow in a state of reduced consciousness to the point she suffered asphyxiation because she was unable to move from her position.

Justice John Byrne sentended Wade to life in jail which meant it would be 15 years before he could apply for parole.

However, Wade then appealed on several grounds including the judge should not have accepted his guilty plea because of Wade's psychologiocal state at the time.

Evidence on appeal was that Wade had intended to plead not guity but was in a heightened state of arousal at the trial and could not confront the situation of the large crowd of people.

Barrister Paul Smith, for Wade, said it was further alleged Wade had made admissions to police which were not consistent with medical evidence.

In an unanimous judgment the Court of Appeal upheld the appeal, set aside the convictions and ordered a re-trial.

Justice John Muir said Wade appeared to have an arguable case in respect to the murder conviction and Wade's admissions to police which were most harmful were inconsistent with medical evidence.

Justice Richard Chesterman said Wade faced the most serious charge in criminal law which was a relevant factor.