A man who stabbed his girlfriend’s ex seven times through the window of his car, leaving him with physical and psychological scars, has told a Perth court he was upset over the death of the couple’s dog.
Hung Nguyen, 41, had been in a relationship with a woman for nine months when their pet Chihuahua was run over and killed in July 2023 outside their Wanneroo home.]
The Supreme Court of WA.Credit: 20060808:000.000:
The woman messaged her ex-partner of four years, Maher Sayadi, whom she had previously shared the dog with, to tell him it had died and asked him to pick her up.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court of WA heard that in the moments before Sayadi arrived at the house, the couple got into an argument about where the dog would be buried, the girl then packing some clothes in preparation to leave.
“She told Mr Nguyen that Mr Sayadi was coming to pick her up,” Nguyen’s defence team told the court.
“She said he was coming, and she was going to go with him. This made him very upset and angry.
“Mr Nguyen had not experienced any problems before with Mr Sayadi.”
The court was told that the girlfriend then told Nguyen that Sayadi “hated” him which was later revealed to be a lie.
The argument caused Nguyen to grab a large kitchen knife and follow his partner outside where he approached Sayadi who was sitting in his BMW waiting with his seat reclined and his window down.
The court was then told that Nguyen “snapped” and started repeatedly stabbing Sayadi in what Justice Fiona Seaward called “a frenzied attack”.
“He was ambushed by you,” she said while sentencing him on Thursday.
“You attacked him through the driver’s window, and he was unable to escape.
“Your actions were disproportionate … you were upset about the dog and an argument.”
The court heard Sayadi received seven separate stab wounds to his neck, chest and arms requiring surgery after he drove himself to Royal Perth Hospital.
In a victim impact statement he said he had been forced to leave his job and industry he had worked in for 15 years due to post-traumatic stress disorder and described how he dwells on the prospect that he could have easily died as a result of the incident.
“His scars are a constant reminder,” Justice Seaward said.
Nguyen, who was born in Sydney and had battled issues with drug use in the past, was initially charged with attempted murder, but that was later downgraded to causing grievous bodily harm.
He has no previous convictions for violent offending, the court was told, his lawyer claiming Nguyen was “not a violent person and this was completely out of character.”
Nguyen was sentenced to five years and two months behind bars, backdated to July 2023 when he was arrested and held in custody.
He will be eligible for parole next year.
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