Benjamin Batterham: Supporters call for release of accused NSW murderer

Thousands of Australians have signed online petitions demanding the immediate release of a NSW man accused of murdering an intruder to his home at the weekend.

Ricky Slater-Dickson, 34, died after allegedly being detained by Benjamin Batterham, 33, and another man at a Newcastle house following a fight in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Batterham was charged with recklessly inflicting grievous bodily harm but the charge was upgraded to murder after Slater-Dickson's life support was switched off on Sunday.

Three petitions on change.org which call for Batterham's release have amassed almost 8000 supporters as of midday Tuesday.

The incident has kicked off a charged nationwide debate between Slater-Dickson's family and self-defence advocates.

"If you creep into someone's residence uninvited you deserve to die, it's that simple, good people don't invade peoples living space," wrote Michael Kinvig in comments on the change.org petition. Mr Kinvig's staunch stance was typical of many signatories on the petition.

"As a home owner I should be able to protect what it rightfully mine and as a mother I believe I should be able to protect my children from these low life scum," added Lea-Anne Dabron, in the comment section.

Tiara Keely told 9NEWS her brother, Mr Slater-Dickson a father-of-three, was a "loving, good person" who was "shy, quiet [and] placid".

"He didn't deserve what happened to him and we're fighting for justice,” she said.

Police were told Mr Slater-Dickson had broken into Mr Batterham's home before an altercation broke out.

Few details of the incident have emerged, but it is believed Mr Batterham and another man allegedly chased Mr Slater-Dickson out onto the footpath, where a struggle ensued.

Mr Slater-Dickson's family claim he had not committed a break-and-enter but was in fact attending a party at Mr Batterham’s residence.

Legal expert Sam Macedone said a person has the right to do whatever they think is necessary to protect themselves – as long as the response is reasonable given their fear at the time of the invasion.

Mr Batterham chose not to appear in court or make an application for bail on Monday and his case is due to be mentioned at Newcastle Local Court today.

With AAP