Birdsall Fa’apepele died after being stabbed 42 times at a caravan park at Paget, in central Queensland, in the early hours of December 14, 2021.

Steven Dean Michael Walker-Ely pleaded guilty to his manslaughter but denied the charge of murder at the start of his trial in 2024.

A Supreme Court jury found Walker-Ely guilty of murder after a four-day trial and he was jailed for life.

In a judgment released yesterday, the Queensland Court of Appeal found merit in Walker-Ely’s claim that there was a miscarriage of justice during his testimony in his own defense.

Walker-Ely stated he was residing at the caravan park when he stabbed the 25-year-old Mackay Magpies player, after being provoked by an attempted sexual assault.

Defense barrister Ruth O’Gorman told the appeal court that the prosecutor acted improperly by asking Walker-Ely to rate his general honesty during cross-examination at trial.

O’Gorman argued that the jury should not have been allowed to hear the question and answer, as it was irrelevant to the events surrounding Fa’apepele’s death.

“What about as a general matter? Do you regard yourself as a perfectly honest man, 10 out of 10?” the prosecutor asked Walker-Ely during the trial.

“Yes, I do,” the accused murderer replied.

Walker-Ely’s trial defence counsel objected at the time, describing the question as inadmissible and “not something I’ve ever seen”.

The prosecutor contended that the questions were necessary to ascertain if Walker-Ely was an unreliable witness, as he claimed Fa’apepele attempted to rape him and then threatened his life.

Appeal judge Thomas Bradley found the prosecutor’s questions were improper as Walker-Ely had not previously claimed to the jury he was of good character.

The other two appeal judges agreed with Justice Bradley.

The appeal court ordered Walker-Ely’s murder conviction be set aside and that he face a new trial.