Remember me
It first made news as a wild fight between two men on a city street early on Easter Saturday 2016 which ended in tragedy when one died, and police charged the other with murder.
It soon emerged Ben Batterham had been at home celebrating his birthday with a mate when meth addict and convicted rapist Ricky Slater broke in on a thieving spree.
Mr Batterham found him lurking in his seven-month-old daughter's bedroom before Slater fled, Mr Batterham chased him, caught him and pinned him down.
Slater died in the incident, prompting the murder charge and Mr Batterham thrown in jail, before the case was later thrown out.
But the public outcry over the case fired up the internet, with many championing the accused and a man's right to defend himself, his family and his home.
Now, a decade later, the final chapter has been written - and justice has been upheld.
It has been a long and traumatic road for Mr Batterham though - and the full inside story can now be told which finally ended in his secret damages payout this week.
The chef and new father-of-one had been drinking with his friend Paul O'Keefe at home at 44 Cleary Street, in Newcastle's Hamilton, while his fiancée Monique Cameron and their young daughter slept next door at his parents' house.
Ricky Slater broke into the house as Ben Batterham was celebrating his birthday while his partner Monique Cameron (the couple is pictured, above) was staying next door with their seven-month-old daughter at Mr Batterham's parents' house
Ben Batterham found Ricky Slater in his infant daughter's bedroom where the rapist and ice addict had stolen the little girl's headband as well as Mr Batterham's fiancée's handbag
It was just before 3.20am when Slater, 37, a 120kg criminal and skilled burglar broke in to Batterham's house.
Slater, whose criminal record dated back to his teens for offences including rape , was carrying three knives, cannabis, meth and an amount of cash in notes in a bumbag over his shoulder.
He had been released from jail about three months earlier and was high on ice, with his addiction fed by his career as a thief.
Mr Batterham and Mr O'Keefe were drinking and listening to music in the lounge room when Slater entered the house and made his way to Mr Batterham's daughter's nursery where he stole a child's headband and Ms Cameron's handbag.
The men confronted Slater, who fled out a side door, and chased him for several streets, despite Mr Batterham falling over and gashing his head.
Neighbours returning from a party saw the chase and let Mr Batterham call Triple Zero on their phone, before spotting Slater hiding in bushes and resumed the pursuit.
Finally, Mr Batterham managed to tackle Slater to the ground at the bottom of the driveway to 30A Cleary Street.
It was across the road from the home of off-duty Detective Inspector Peter Mahon, who came out with other residents to watch Mr Batterham fight Slater in the gutter.
Police photographed Ben Batterham's injuries following the incident and charged him with assault. A day later Ricky Slater died and Batterham's charge was upgraded to murder
Ricky Slater (above with his mother Beryl in John Hunter Hospital) was revived but then suffered two more heart attacks the following day and his life support was switched off
The house that Ricky Slater broke into on the night that would end his life and change irrevocably those of Ben Batterham and his young family in 2016
One neighbour later told police: 'I saw Pete who I know as a police officer standing on the road leaning over two guys, the first guy being in the gutter and the second guy on top of him.
'I saw the two guys struggling on the ground. The first guy was...over 100kg, chubby build. The second guy was on top of him, punching the first guy in the back of his head.
'I went home to get some rope so the first guy’s legs could be tied to stop him from running.'
One witness heard Slater say: 'Get off me ... you're hurting my arm. I can't breathe.'
He said Mr Batterham replied: 'You're done for mate, the cops are coming.'
'You motherf***er piece of s***. How dare you break into my house and my daughter's room. She is only seven months old.'
Mr Mahon ordered Mr Batterham off Slater, adding: 'If you don't get off him and let him breathe, he will die.'
With this, Mr Batterham released his grip and got off Slater, who was placed in the recovery position, placing his mouth near Batterham's hand.
Ben Batterham and his wife Monique Cameron attend his murder trial at Newcastle Supreme Court in 2019
Ben Batterham in a hospital gown as police charged him with Ricky Slater's assault (left) but when Slater died the following day, police charged Mr Batterham with murder
Ben Batterham sustained multiple injuries during his struggle with Ricky Slater on a Newcastle street but the implications for his life of that evening are still being felt
Ricky Slater with an ice pipe smoking methamphetamine. The addict was high on meth when he broke into Ben Batterham's home in 2016 and stole into the bedroom of the chef's seven-month-old daughter
Slater then bit Mr Batterham who punched Slater and put him in a chokehold, with police unable to separate the pair until a paddy wagon arrived.
Slater, now motionless, was handcuffed while apparently unconscious and taken off to John Hunter Hospital.
A resealable plastic bag with $570, a Slazenger watch and a gold link chain was taken from him, while Mr Batterham was arrested for assault and taken to the same hospital.
On the way, he allegedly told officers: ‘He’s a dog, let me at him.
'Give me two minutes with him. What would you do if you caught him in your daughter's room? I should have killed him.’
Slater suffered three heart attacks after the street brawl and doctors switched off his life support the next day.
Mr Batterham, whose injuries included the bite wound as well as cuts and bruises from his struggle with the much larger Slater, had his charge upgraded to murder.
The Daily Mail published exclusive details and never-before-seen photos of Mr Batterham in an award-winning story which was honoured in 2016 with the Kennedy Award for Outstanding Court Reporting.
Ben Batterham's injuries included a bite wound as well as cuts and bruises from his struggle with the much larger Slater, but he was charged with murder and suffered PTSD afterwards
Slater's mother Beryl Dickson with her son on the day hospital staff switched off his life support following several heart attacks
The accused spent six weeks in jail amid growing public alarm that any person could not defend himself or his family, or execute their legal right to make a citizen's arrest.
Mr Batterham always insisted he never intended to kill Slater and had only put his arm around the burglar's neck so he could not escape until uniformed police arrived.
Meanwhile, Slater's family grieved over his death and at court hearings as the case headed towards trial, insisting that their lost son and brother had been wronged.
When Mr Batterham was granted bail, which included a $200,000 surety on his parents' home, Slater's mother Beryl Dickson emotionally protested outside court.
The matter went to trial in 2019 and on November 20, Batterham was found not guilty of both murder and manslaughter.
A NSW Supreme Court jury sitting at Newcastle accepted Mr Batterham's assertion he had been making a citizen's arrest.
The then-36-year-old, who was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder following Slater's death, did not give sworn evidence but wrote a letter to the jury that was read out in court.
Justice Desmond Fagan ruled Mr Batterham should be paid costs, saying the charges against him should have been withdrawn on the medical evidence alone.
Ben Batterham's hand is pictured after the assault. He has now been awarded a confidential pay out for being wrongly prosecuted, his lawyer saying it ended a decade-long 'torturous process'
Ben Batterham, above in a vehicle with his barrister Winston Terracini SC who successfully argued before a Supreme Court jury that his client had lawfully executed a citizen's arrest when tackling 120kg Ricky Slater
Ben Batterham (presenting his hands for police photos after the struggle) always maintained that he had never intended to kill Slater and had only put his arm around the burglar's neck so he could not escape until uniformed police arrived
The judge also said Mr Batterham had acted reasonably when he chased down Slater, who was high on meth at the time.
After the verdict was handed down, Slater's mother Beryl Dickson immediately walked from the courtroom.
Outside court, she screamed: 'My son was choked by that bastard... look over your back for the rest of your f***ing life, you f***ing c***.'
The trial heard that Slater suffered a cardiac arrest after the brawl and paramedics revived him, but had two further two cardiac arrests in hospital and died the next day.
The meth addict had scarring to his heart because of regular drug use, suffered liver disease, and was obese.
At trial, Mr Batterham's lawyers argued that Slater had a lethal level of methamphetamine in his system and that was the true cause of his death.
Mr Batterham has now won a confidential payout for being wrongly prosecuted.
He had filed a civil claim against the State of NSW in the Supreme Court seeking damages for wrongful prosecution and on February 5, the matter was resolved.
Barrister Winston Terracini SC leaves Newcastle court in 2019 with Ben Batterham and Monique Cameron whose Hunter Valley home Ricky Slater invaded in 2016
After Ben Batterham was locked up for six weeks before being granted bail, public outcry fired up the internet, with many championing his right to defend himself in his home
After news of the circumstances in which Ben Batterham (pictured in police post-assault photos) had his home invaded by a rapist and drug addict, public sentiment swung behind the young father's right to defend his home and family
Ricky Slater's mother Beryl Dickson and sister Tiara Kelly protest outside Newcastle court after a jury found Ben Batterham not guilty of the murder and manslaughter of their son and brother
Ben Batterham and his wife Monique Cameron with their daughter (left), who was just seven months old when the incident which changed their lives occurred. Right Batterham after the struggle with Ricky Slater
Mr Batterham's solicitor, Peter O'Brien, told the ABC the agreement ended a difficult nearly decade-long ordeal for his client.
'For Ben Batterham, it has been a long and torturous process to have been charged, then to have been acquitted,' Mr O'Brien said.
'To have now settled a suit against the state in relation to the manner in which he was prosecuted, that's been a long and arduous process for him, and hopefully now he can move on with his life.
'It's a very good example of why prosecution authorities need to exercise the discretion to not proceed and to not bring proceedings that are inevitably doomed, as this one was.'
In March 2020, Mr Batterham told 60 Minutes that on the night he found Slater in his daughter's room, he did what 'any father would have done'.
'This could happen to anyone,' he said. 'It could happen to you, it could happen to me.
'My head was doing backflips... I was very upset. It's my castle, people should always defend their homes.'
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