‘Do you want me to kill you?’ man walks free for threat, assault

A Queensland man who threatened to kill his good mate with a 15cm flick knife during a three-hour hostage ordeal has walked free from court with a suspended sentence.

A Queensland man who threatened to kill his good mate with a 15cm flick knife, standing over him and asking him if he wanted to die, while holding him hostage, has walked free from court on a suspended sentence.

Khoa Hoang Lam, 29, from Southport was in the District Court in Brisbane on Tuesday where the court heard he asked his victim: “Do you want me to kill you?” while refusing to let the man leave his Inala home on the night of January 17, 2019.

The victim, who had been friends with Mr Lam since school 11 years ago, replied: “If you are going to kill me, just kill me now” the court heard.

The threat to kill was part of a three-hour unprovoked ordeal where Mr Lam punched the victim in his forehead, a wound which required four stitches.

The man tried to get help from neighbours by yelling out the window, after Mr Lam refused to let him leave after he called a ride sharing service for a lift.

Mr Lam, who makes laminate benchtops in a factory and lives at home with his mum, pleaded guilty to two charges, one of threatening violence at night and one of assault occasioning bodily harm.

He was not charged with deprivation of liberty, however Mr Lam agreed to the police statement of facts which stated he refused to let the victim leave the home during the ordeal, despite the victim constantly asking to leave.

Judge David Kent told the court during the sentencing hearing that the victim complained to police, but later indicated to them that he did not want the complaint to go further.

But the victim reversed his decision after Mr Lam posted a video on Facebook showing the victim in Mr Lam’s home on the night of the attack.

Judge Kent stated that the video was “offensive to the complainant” and showed Mr Lam was “somewhat boasting of” what he had done to the man.

Court

The attack began when the man arrived to stay at Mr Lam’s house for the night, finding Mr Lam to be “acting strange” with an ice pipe laying on his bedside table.

Mr Lam, who admits he abused the drug ice for seven years until 2020 but was now in recovery, grabbed the man by his upper body and forced him onto Mr Lam’s bed, and onto his back, the court heard.

Mr Lam mounted the man, who tried to use his legs to fend Mr Lam off.

Mr Lam moved the man’s legs to the side and punched him in the forehead, splitting it.

Shortly afters Mr Lam made the threat to kill the man with the flick knife, as the man sat on Mr Lam’s bed and Mr Lam “stood over him” with the knife.

Ultimately the man escaped Mr Lam’s home to a nearby shopping centre where he flagged down a security guard, who called police and an ambulance.

Mr Lam’s barrister Gerry Elmore submitted that Mr Lam was remorseful and had been diagnosed with drug-induced psychosis, but was now medication free and had given up cannabis and tobacco smoking.

Mr Lam’s father died of a heroin overdose when he was 13, and he left school in grade 10, the court heard.

He was previously convicted of serious assault in 2012 when he was 18, and sentenced to a suspended nine-month prison term for kicking and punching a man in the Brisbane CBD.

That same year he was also convicted of common assault and fined $500 for punching a man in the city after taking offence.

Judge Kent sentenced Mr Lam to a wholly suspended one-year jail term for the assault, and a suspended three months’ jail term for the threaten violence, to be served concurrently.

He must not use drugs or commit another crime within the next year or risk going to jail.

He must report to probation and parole in Southport.

A conviction was recorded.