Tradie jailed over stabbing man with box cutter in road rage attack

A tradie who stabbed a driver with a box cutter in a road rage attack on the M7 at Glendenning last year has been jailed. Watch the video.

• Man linked to Comanchero bikie gang used Doonside property as safe house in illicit drug ring: Police
• Lethbridge Park man faces 169 charges over alleged animal trafficking operation

A Punchbowl tradie who stabbed another man with a box cutter in a road rage incident on the M7 at Glendenning last year has been jailed.

Ahmed Salami, 23, was sentenced to 14 months jail with a non-parole period of seven months in Mt Druitt Local Court today over the stabbing of a 42-year-old man on the M7 on November 30, 2018.

Salami pleaded guilty to reckless wounding causing actual bodily harm and knowingly driving a vehicle in a manner that menaces another.

At his sentencing today, the victim told the court he had not recovered from the psychological and physical trauma of the incident, which was witnessed by his wife and 12-year-old daughter.

The tradesman has been jailed for at least seven months.

The court heard Salami was driving a red Toyota Corolla when he got into an altercation with the victim over being cut off while trying to merge onto the motorway at Richmond Rd.

Tensions escalated when Salami threw a bar of soap out the window of his car, hitting the victim’s Toyota Hilux.

The 42-year-old victim was stabbed in the abdomen with a box cutter during an altercation on the M7 at Glendenning in November 2018. Picture: Nine News

Both men came to a halt in the middle of the motorway and exited their cars — Salami armed with a box cutter from his work tool bag — and confronted each other in a verbal argument.

It was at this point that Salami stabbed the victim in the abdomen.

The moments after the stabbing were captured on dashcam footage and showed the pair arguing before getting into their cars and driving away.

The victim said he initially thought he had been punched in the stomach and did not realise he had been stabbed until he got back into his car.

He told the court he had a 10cm scar from the stab wound and had ongoing fears for his safety.

“The incident has affected my self-confidence and security … I have installed security cameras at my home,” the victim said.

“In the months that followed I have attended the trauma clinic at the hospital and to this date, I have not completely recovered from the incident.”

Salami could be seen chuckling to himself and shaking his head while the victim spoke.

Defence solicitor Mr Archibold said Salami had armed himself with the box cutter in self-defence.

Dashcam footage captured the moments after the stabbing and showed Salami driving off in a red Toyota Corolla. Picture: Nine News

“This was a split-second decision where he thought there was no other alternative,” Mr Archibold said.

“He always maintained he reacted in a way he needed to defend himself, but agrees it was excessive.

“He is a man who felt he had to arm himself against a much bigger man in an aggressive fight”

In sentencing, Magistrate Stephen Corry told the court that while Salami had a history of driving offences, the matter was his first criminal offence.

“This is considered to be a serious injury and was not a superficial stab wound and required an emergency operative procedure,” Mr Corry said.

“It is a combination of the defendant feeling aggrieved by the actions of the victim cutting him off and the situation escalating.

“I believe the defendant had room to go around the vehicle and stop the incident from occurring.”

For the driving matter, Salami was ordered to enter into a Community Corrections Order for two years and was disqualified from driving for three years.