Police officer tells court he thought he would die in knife attack
A police officer says his life flashed before him and that he felt like he was going to die when a man out on parole lunged at him with a knife in an attack captured on chilling CCTV footage at a Sydney police station.
A police officer says his life flashed before him and that he felt like he was going to die when a man out on parole lunged at him with a knife in an attack captured on chilling CCTV footage at a Sydney police station.
Sean Matthews, 29, appeared in the dock of Parramatta District Court today after pleading guilty to the attack on Leading Senior Constable Scott Collis, 44, outside Eastwood police station in the early hours of July 12 last year.
Snr Cst Collis took to the witness box and told the court what it felt like to be attacked from behind just before his night shift ended, saying it was the thought of his two young sons which willed him on to fend off the 20-centimetre knife and survive.
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“I somehow realised someone was approaching me … at this moment I believed I was going to die … I remember seeing my life flash before me,” he told the court.
“I remember thinking of my family — my two sons — and how I couldn’t afford for this to be the end of me.
“I remember thinking, why would this person do this to me? Why would he try to kill me?”
CCTV footage of the attack was played to the court and showed Matthews bursting out from behind a car before setting upon Snr Cst Collis on the steps of the station.
Snr Cst Collis dodged the knife before other police officers chased Matthews on foot and arrested him.
“I remember being out of breath … I started to look over myself, patting myself down looking for wounds — still to this day, I don’t know how I was not physically injured,” he told the court.
But it was the non-physical injuries from the attack which shook Snr Cst Collis to the core and still persist.
He told the court he has since been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder, has trouble going out at night and only recently returned to wearing a police uniform after returning to work.
“Simple things like going for a walk and going out at night cause me great anxiety,” he said.
“I feel like I’m looked at as that crazy guy with posttraumatic stress disorder.”
Matthew’s defence team tendered a letter of apology to the court.
The court was told he has mental health problems, was out on parole at the time of the attack and has been in and out of jail for most of his 20s.
Judge James Bennett adjourned the case until Tuesday when Matthews will be sentenced over a charge of attempting to cause grevious bodily harm.
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