A life sentence for the murder of an intellectually disabled man at a Perth train station | ABC News

this is Alan Thomas waiting at the Queen's Park train station in December 2020 his final moments captured by CCTV cameras is Lex Pickett approaches him from behind What followed was a brutal beating that's too disturbing to show then after pushing Mr Thomas over the platform Pickett left the scene offering no help as the 70 year old laid dying on the train tracks Pickett was arrested later

that morning and told police he'd attacked Mr Thomas because he was sick of his family and wanted to go to jail to get a bed he pleaded guilty to a charge of murder the supreme court hearing that he had a history of Mental Illness but in the lead-up to the attack he'd stop taking his medication and had used cannabis in methamphetamine the Supreme Court heard Lex

Pickett has a lengthy criminal history that includes convictions for more than 250 offenses among them a conviction for manslaughter in the 1990s for killing a man in a car crash members of Mr Thomas's family provided Victim Impact statements to the court describing him as a loving and caring man who'd worked since he was 20 years old with no suggestion of him retiring Justice Michael Lundberg described

the murder as brutal and extreme Mr Thomas posed no threat to you he was a very vulnerable and defenseless man he told Pickett your conduct was callous it was random violent and an almost bewildering event he said Pickett's sentence was backdated to the time of his arrest on the day of the murder meaning he'll first be eligible for release in 2039 Joanna Minar ABC News