Trevon Kisa Anthony sentenced for stabbing man in ‘consensual’ Ipswich fight

A drunk Ipswich parkgoer was surprised to be stabbed after picking a fight with a man whose ‘voices in his head’ had warned him he would be attacked that day.

Trevon Anthony leaving Ipswich Courthouse on March 9, 2023. Picture: Nicola McNamara

An Ipswich man armed himself with a knife after “voices in his head” warned him he was in danger, then used it to stab a man who kicked off a “consensual fight” with him that same day.

Redbank Plains resident Trevon Kisa Anthony, 22, pleaded guilty in Ipswich District Court on Thursday to one count of unlawful wounding.

The court heard “voices in his head” had warned Anthony on December 7, 2021 that he was going to be harmed that night.

Crown prosecutor Connor Lovett said Anthony “felt compelled to arm himself with a knife” and took that knife with him to Fernbrooke Ridge Sports Ground in Redbank Plains that evening.

He and his girlfriend were walking her dog in the vicinity of a drunk man, who Judge Michael Rackemann noted was in an “agitated and irritated state” and “sporadically yelled” at the couple.

The couple made to leave at 11.15pm but, when passing by the victim near the carpark, Anthony yelled and “rushed” towards him.

The two wrestled for a time, in what the court heard was a “consensual fight”.

Mr Lovett said it was when the victim got on top of Anthony, that Anthony pulled the knife out and stabbed him.

The victim, after being told he had a knife in his back, started to panic and told Anthony he could “get into some serious trouble”.

The court heard he told Anthony “I just wanted to punch on, I didn’t know you were going to stab me in the back”.

Anthony then apologised, while his girlfriend called an ambulance.

The victim was taken to hospital and treated for the stab wound, which the court heard was seven or eight centimetres deep – but managed to avoid anything important.

Judge Rackemann noted Anthony was “lucky” the wound did not do more damage, as he could “easily be in the Supreme Court on murder” in other circumstances.

Trevon Anthony fronted court after stabbing a man at a Redbank Plains park. Picture: Nicola McNamara

The court heard Anthony made admissions to the police at the time, telling them he had approached to ask the man why he was yelling at him.

Judge Rackemann said Anthony told police he had been scared and tried to stab the victim “anywhere that wouldn’t end him” so he would get off him.

Defence barrister Allana Davie said her client suffered from undiagnosed mental health issues that had caused a state of “heightened vigilance” and “panic”.

Mr Lovett acknowledged Anthony had no criminal history and had not reoffended while on bail, but said the fact he continued to hear voices posed an “inherent risk”.

Ms Davie said Anthony would face deportation if given a sentence of more than 12 months jail, as he was born in New Zealand, and suggested a suspended sentence instead.

Judge Rackemann acknowledged the matter was an “unusual set of circumstances”.

He said Anthony’s mental health difficulties did not excuse the stabbing, but put the case in an “entirely different category”.

He accepted the stabbing “may not ever have existed but for the actions of the complainant”, and that Anthony’s response was a “spontaneous over-reaction to the perceived need to defend [him]self”.

Under the circumstances, he sentenced Anthony to 18 months jail, wholly suspended for two years.