Lawyer Peter McCarthy’s son is too scared to leave home after he was killed by Narelle Fiona Smith

The son of a retired barrister who was beaten to death by his neighbor at his Sydney home has told a court he no longer trusts the world, is afraid to leave home and wishes he deserved more to be with it Father would not have to live in social housing.

Narelle Fiona Smith, 48, was found guilty of the murder of Peter McCarthy, 77, after a trial in November 2022.

His son James McCarthy told the NSW Supreme Court on Friday that he had become depressed, suicidal and agoraphobic since the killing of his father in December 2020.

“I don’t trust the world anymore,” McCarthy told the court.

The grief is a life sentence and has resulted in his needing increased psychiatric therapy and medication, which the family is struggling to afford and Mr McCarthy’s wife has to administer.

“I can’t be trusted not to attempt an overdose,” he said.

Narelle Fiona Smith has been found guilty of beating her neighbor to death with a frying pan

Mr McCarthy said he wished he had been more successful in his own life so his father wouldn’t have to live in council housing in South Coogee, in east Sydney, where he met the neighbor who killed him.

Smith pleaded not guilty and continues to deny her involvement.

She appeared over an audiovisual link and shook her head when the Crown submitted that she had intended to kill Mr McCarthy when he tried to defend himself.

“This was a brutal and cruel attack on an elderly man in his own home,” said Attorney General Katharine Jeffreys.

After Smith inflicted serious facial injuries with a frying pan, fractured several bones and knocked out a tooth, Smith left the pensioner’s body in a disgraceful condition on the floor of his home, where it remained for several days, Ms Jeffreys added.

A deformed frying pan with a broken handle was found near his body, and Smith’s DNA was found in Mr. McCarthy’s home and under his fingernails.

At home, his cell phone, bank cards, cash and a travel card that Smith took after the murder were not found, which appeared to show no evidence of intent or motive, Ms Jeffreys said.

Retired attorney Peter McCarthy (pictured) was found dead at his South Coogee home in December 2020 with severe head and facial injuries

Sharyn Hall SC, Smith’s attorney, acknowledged that her client’s continued rejection meant she was likely to receive a longer sentence than if she had shown remorse.

She asked the judge to establish special circumstances based on Smith’s traumatic childhood.

“She has a number of longstanding, ingrained issues that need to be addressed,” she said.

While she can be treated in custody, Smith’s greater challenge will be community reintegration, her attorney said.

“Given her background, given her unstable lifestyle from an early age… one wonders if (she) was ever fully assimilated into society,” Ms Hall said.

The judge noted that their bill could have some force before being adjourned to consider Smith’s verdict, which he will announce at a later date.

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Peter McCarthy was last caught on CCTV on December 16, 2020 at Club York in Sydney’s CBD (pictured). Four days later he was found dead in his home

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