District Court: Gladstone man, Daniel Cecil Widgell, 31 stabbed ex-girlfriend’s brother in back on mattress after drunk family feud

A man was stabbed in the back with a knife after he tried to separate his sister from her then-partner during a cask-wine fuelled argument. Here’s what happened in court.

A cask wine-drunk Gladstone man asked “who wants to die tonight” before stabbing his partner’s brother in the back with a knife, a court heard.

Daniel Cecil Widgell, 31 pleaded guilty in Gladstone District Court on May 16 to assault occasioning grievous bodily harm, as well as an unrelated summary offence of serious assault.

Widgell was convicted and sentenced to three years and six months imprisonment for the first charge, with a parole eligibility date of May 17, as well as nine months imprisonment for serious assault to be served concurrently.

He had served about two years and five months of pre-sentence custody for the offences which occurred on separate dates in 2019.

Daniel Cecil Widgell appeared in the Gladstone District Court on Monday 16 May 2022. Picture: Supplied

The court heard that on December 18, 2019, Widgell had drunk a high volume of goon (cask wine) with his then-partner throughout the day with arguments surfacing constantly while the pair were watching TV on a mattress.

The victim, who was the brother of Widgell’s ex-girlfriend, had also attended the house and was watching TV with the pair.

Defence lawyer Scott Moon said his client and partner of about two months had been arguing “on and off again” all afternoon before the woman allegedly called him a “motherf---er” and hit him several times in the head.

He said the woman’s brother decided to leave because of the fighting and about the same time Widgell said “f--- this I’m leaving too”.

Widgell pulled a knife from the kitchen and asked his then-partner “who wants to die tonight”. Picture: Facebook

However, Crown prosecution said neither men left and instead Widgell continued screaming from the kitchen.

The court heard Widgell’s then partner said “is this how adults behave when they’re angry” and followed him into the kitchen.

When Widgell grabbed a knife (about 30cms long including the handle) his partner tried to calm him down but a wrestle ensued and the pair moved back into the living room.

The court heard Widgell then said “who wants to die tonight” before the victim intervened, pushing his sister away from the defendant and onto the mattress.

Widgell pleaded guilty to the two charges in Gladstone District Court on May 16 2022. Picture: News Corp

Widgell then stabbed the victim while his back was turned after he fell onto the mattress, leaving a deep wound about 3cm wide.

The man ran to the bathroom to check he had been stabbed, before calling emergency services.

He was later transported to hospital in a serious but stable condition.

Medical examinations revealed the man’s injuries included a partially collapsed lung and a fractured rib which required blood to be drained from his chest cavity.

The victim had lost about half a litre of blood before he was admitted, with court documents suggesting he would have died without medical intervention.

The man was transported to the Gladstone Hospital in a serious but stable condition and required exploratory surgery to drain blood from a partially collapsed lung. Picture: Supplied

The court heard that after leaving the premises, Widgell was located by police at the Gladstone Airport car park with blood on his shirt, where he declined a formal police interview.

In his remarks, Judge Jeffrey Clarke acknowledged Widgell was a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic with no work experience, a history of drug and alcohol abuse and was educated to a year eight level.

However, Judge Clarke said Widgell had a relevant history of violence and this was a clear “escalation” of the violence; using the knife to stab a person who had not provoked the accused and was trying to break up the fight.

Judge Clarke cited lengthy delays with the parole board for his decision to reduce Widgell’s sentence down from four years.