Kevin Ronald Punter sentenced to jail in Maroochydore court for stabbing

A court has heard how a Sunshine Coast woman who was brutally bashed and stabbed by her father is now terrified of him and no longer speaks to her family. Find out his sentence.

The victim of a “vicious” attack by her father at a Cootharaba birthday celebration had to undergo facial plastic surgery and no longer sees her family, a court has heard.

Kevin Ronald Punter, 62, was sentenced in Maroochydore District Court on May 31, 2022 to three and a half years’ prison to be suspended after serving one year and nine months.

Punter was convicted of one count of grievous bodily harm by a jury after a four-day trial that started on May 24, 2022.

The victim was his then 27-year-old daughter Annabelle Punter.

He also faced trial for another grievous bodily harm charge where the complainant was his daughter’s boyfriend Troy Simeth-Hackling, however he was found not guilty of that charge.

The incident occured on the night of September 16, 2020, when Ms Punter and Mr Simeth-Hackling had been invited to Punter’s house for a birthday dinner.

The court heard there had been some kind of altercation between Punter and Mr Simeth-Hackling after they ate dinner.

Kevin Ronald Punter was found guilty of stabbing his daughter at their Cootharaba home.

“I said stop, but he just got so angry, he grabbed me by the throat and pushed me up against the wall, I didn’t know what to do,” Punter said.

Punter claimed that he retaliated in self defence and was protecting his daughter by causing life threatening injuries to her boyfriend.

Crown prosecutor Rebecca Marks said during a triple-0 call made by Mrs Punter to get help for Mr Simeth-Hackling, the “vicious” attack on her daughter could be heard in the background.

“You can hear (Punter) saying, ‘I grabbed a knife and (Mr Simeth-Hackling) is threatening me, I was scared, he attacked me’,” Ms Marks said.

The daughter could then be heard screaming, “he’s about to f--king die”, before her father Punter said, “shut up you ... f--k you ... you’ve f--ked me up enough”.

Thumping noises were heard before Punter’s wife said “my husband just stabbed my daughter as well”.

“Oh for f--ks sake, my husband, I think he’s killed her,” she said.

Ms Marks read Ms Punter’s victim impact statement aloud in court and described the attack as “unprovoked”, “cowardly” and “irrational”.

Kevin Punter has been sentenced for bashing and stabbing his daughter Annabelle Punter.

“After the incident, without memory and having a concussion, I was left in a state where I could not work or do anything physically for months,” the statement read.

“I am reminded everyday still by the scars on my face and back ... these scars are with me for life.”

After being bashed and stabbed in the back with a knife, Ms Punter suffered 11 different facial injuries and a stab wound.

She had to undergo plastic surgery and her right eye still hurts and swells as it has still not completely healed.

In early-December when Punter was let out on bail to the address his daughter was living at with her mother, it forced Ms Punter to leave the property with a sudden loss of contact with her family.

“Since the event I have had massive financial loss, am unable to find or pay for a rental property, feeling abandoned without any family or support,” Ms Punter said in her statement.

“There has been multiple occasions I have seen my father Kevin out and about, I’ve had to stop, walk away and I panic, I get scared at the sight of him and I run away and hide, not knowing what to do.

“I cannot comprehend how or why my father did this to me.”

Ms Punter said she was now six months’ pregnant and did not want her father anywhere near her new family.

Mr Simeth-Hackling had been invited to Punter’s house for a birthday dinner where he was stabbed.

Defence barrister Simon Lewis said his client had no previous criminal history.

Mr Lewis said the significant amount of alcohol Punter consumed on the night explained the conduct but did not excuse it.

“Clearly something has happened on this night and he has lost control,” Mr Lewis said.

Mr Lewis said Punter, who worked as an IT consultant for the Bank of Queensland, had not been in the best health due to his high blood pressure and hypertension.

When sentencing Punter, Judge Michael Byrne said he had caused his daughter considerable physical and emotional pain after seriously disfiguring her face.

“It is obvious that you struck her multiple times ... you then stabbed her in the back with the knife you had used to injure Mr Simeth-Hackling,” Judge Byrne said.

Judge Byrne told the court Punter had shown no remorse through the course of the trial and consistently denied inflicting any injuries to his daughter.

He declared 84 days of presentence custody as time already served and a conviction was recorded.