Knife threat left women fearing for their lives

A FRIGHTENING assault, where two women were threatened with a kitchen knife, was heard in Grafton Local Court this week

File shot of man with knife for court story.Photo: Rob Williams / The Queensland Times. Picture: Rob Williams

A FRIGHTENING assault which left two women fearing for their lives has resulted in jail time for a Lawrence man.

David Andrew Johnson, 34, appeared before Grafton Local Court on Monday afternoon, pleading guilty to a series of charges, including being armed with intent to commit an indictable offence, stalk or intimidation and common assault.

According to police facts tendered to the court, the victim was at a property at Lawrence with a friend on December 15 last year when Johnson arrived after walking from Lawrence to Maclean and back for an appointment.

Upon arrival, Johnson became agitated and threw the shoes at the victim, yelling "how would you feel if you had to walk in these f----ing shoes".

The friend intervened, however Johnson became enraged and entered the premises and continued to abuse the two women, before entering the kitchen and grabbing a 20cm kitchen knife.

Johnson walked back out on to the veranda where the victim and friend were and held the knife out, pointing it towards the two women and said "I'll f---ing stab out, you pair of s----".

Johnson then walked towards the friend before the victim stood between the two and pushed him back inside the house.

Fearing for their safety, the two fled the property to a park across the road to get in a safe location to call the police while Johnson continued to shout abuse.

Multiple people heard the yelling and contacted police, including the sole Lawrence lock-up keeper , who was off duty but recalled himself to duty and contacted back-up.

Police arrived a short time later and spoke to the victim in the park before approaching the property. Johnson left the premises and was arrested.

In Grafton Local Court on Monday, Magistrate Karen Stafford sentenced Johnson to 18 months in prison, with a non-parole period of nine months.

He will be eligible for release on supervised parole on September 14, 2018.

Originally published as Knife threat left women fearing for their lives