'Wheelie bin murderer' sentenced to just 15 years in prison without parole by South African court

An Adelaide judge has given “dumpster murderer” Andrew Hallcroft a minimum sentence of 15 years, five years less than expected.

Hallcroft was convicted of the murder of Allan Lee Ryan on New Year's Day 2015.

Mr Ryan was stabbed 20 times and his legs sawed off before being thrown into Hallcroft's bin which was then left in the street outside the house.

The mandatory minimum sentence should have been 20 years, but Judge Trish Kelly gave the court no explanation for the lesser sentence.

Judge Kelly said during the trial that she wanted Hallcroft's mental state to be assessed.

“I’m interested in this man’s intellectual abilities,” she said.

“It is certainly relevant to my assessment of severity [of the crime]”.

Hallcroft's defense lawyer, Nick Vadasz, told the court that a psychiatric assessment of his client's mental capacity placed him in the poorest 2 percent of the population.

It was suggested that this was evidenced by the location of the bin containing Mr Ryan's butchered body so close to his house.

Hallcroft punched and stabbed his victim to death before using a saw to dump the body in a wheelie bin outside his Aldinga Beach home.

Tire tracks lead police directly to his door.

The South Australian Supreme Court heard in January that Hallcroft murdered the 32-year-old because he was fed up with him “bludgeoning” him.

When Hallcroft found Mr Ryan asleep on his sofa and his anti-anxiety medication gone, he attacked the man “to stop him from coming”.

Hallcroft's lawyer told the court the defendant was remorseful and allegedly told police: “I know it's a bad thing I did… my mother would kick my ass.”

Although the suspect said he regretted his actions, the court was told he had recently called his victim a “cockroach”.

The prosecution argued that this demonstrated Hallcroft's inability to feel remorse for his actions.

Information break – April 14