Ipswich District Court: Man sentenced for unlawfully wounding ex-girlfriend in her family home

The girl ended the relationship some days before and he returned that evening to cook dinner for her family and collect his belongings.

The man, now aged 22, pleaded guilty to unlawfully wounding his ex-girlfriend in 2020.

DISTRESSED when his teenage lover broke off their affair a young man screamed he wanted to die and as the girl tried to wrestle a knife out of his grip she was stabbed in the hand.

The incident occurring just moments after the girl had grabbed another knife from the highly emotional man.

After suffering the stab wound she cut her hand on the blade while trying to take it off him so he did not self-harm.

Ipswich District Court heard that the then 20-year-old man had not wanted to harm the 16-year girl in the incident at her family home, when he appeared for sentence.

The man, now aged 22, pleaded guilty to unlawfully wounding the teenager on February 12, 2020.

Crown prosecutor Amy Stannard said the pair had broken up after dating for a year with the man then residing at her family home.

The girl ended the relationship some days before and he returned that evening to cook dinner for her family and collect more of his belongings.

She later saw him outside the house holding a knife in his hands and she shouted stop, the man saying “I don’t want to be here anymore”.

The girl took the knife which he had been holding near his throat and then ran after her screaming “I want to die”.

He got a second knife from the kitchen and cut his wrist.

Then as she went toward him he lunged and her hand was cut.

He screamed “I’ve hurt you, I want to die”.

Ms Stannard said the girl’s mother tried to calm him down and there had been a tug of war over the knife with the girl cutting her hand when grabbing the blade.

The man dropped to the ground and began to self-harm by bashing his head into concrete causing him to become unconscious.

Three stitches were required for the wound to her left hand and stitches for three cuts on her right hand.

Photos of her injuries were tended.

The wounding charge relates only to the one knife wound.

Ms Stannard said it was clear there had been some emotional and physical impact to the girl.

It had been the first serious relationship for both of them.

The Crown prosecution sought a jail sentence of 15 to 18 months but because of the circumstances including his youth and mental health concerns he should receive immediate release to parole.

Defence barrister Cecelia Bernardin said he has since done counselling and the offence was out of character.

Citing the features of mental health, his IQ, learning difficulties and his youth, Ms Bernardin sought a probation order as appropriate.

She said he’d also suffered a stroke the day after an accident when his car struck a tree.

Judge Dennis Lynch QC said it was serious to wound someone that you had been in a relationship with.

He noted the context of the violent incident, saying the man became distressed and threatening to harm himself after their relationship broke down.

Judge Lynch said the injury was a two centimetre laceration that required three sutures.

She also suffered cuts when she took the knife from him.

The man was convicted and sentenced to a two-year probation order.

He must have no contact with the young woman including social media.

Read more stories by Ross Irby here.