The Entrance: Zeke Laidlaw sentenced in court after wielding 25cm knife like a “samurai warrior” in unprovoked attack

A Sydney teen said “voices” in his head told him innocent revellers heading home from a Central Coast pub were “having a go” before he attacked one with a large kitchen knife.

Zeke Laidlaw wielded the large knife like a “samurai”, the court heard.

A teenager was either immature or hearing “voices” when he wielded a 25cm knife like a “Samurai warrior” in an attack on a man walking home from the pub with friends, a court heard.

Zeke Laidlaw, 19, of Guilford in Sydney’s west, faced Gosford District Court on Friday after pleading guilty to reckless wounding and affray.

An agreed set of facts states a group of five friends were walking back to an apartment at The Entrance after a night at The Lakes Hotel at The Entrance on the Central Coast about 12.10am on March 22 last year.

Laidlaw and a juvenile, who cannot be named for legal reasons, started following them.

Laidlaw or the young person called out to the group “come here, what did you say?” before a female from the group told them “we’re just trying to go home”.

The pair then turned their attention to one of the males in the group.

Laidlaw pulled out a 25cm kitchen knife from the front of his jacket and yelled “yeah c..t, come on let’s go”.

The group was walking home after a night at The Lakes Hotel.

The juvenile pulled out a baton, but was quickly grabbed in a headlock by one of the young women from the group before he dropped the weapon, wriggled free and took off running.

The facts state Laidlaw ran at the male and he tripped over a nearby bench and fell.

“The victim held his right arm up in an attempt to protect his face and head and the offender slashed his arm with the knife,” the court heard.

The victim got up, grabbed a chair and swung it at Laidlaw, causing him to fall over.

Another female in the group grabbed the knife and stuck it into the ground away from Laidlaw.

The group began to walk away again when Laidlaw approached the man, who was bleeding profusely from a cut to his forearm, wanting to fight.

“The victim then picked up a nearby bin and hit the offender a couple of times,” the court heard.

“The offender and (the victim) then exchanged punches until the offender was lying on the ground with cuts and bruises to his head.”

The group was walking through the promenade area along The Entrance waterfront when Laidlaw attacked.

Police arrived and Laidlaw was taken to Wyong Hospital for observation before being taken to Wyong Police Station, where he was charged.

Meanwhile, the victim received stitches for a 5cm cut to his forearm.

Judge Alister Abadee said the victim and his friends were unarmed, while Laidlaw and his juvenile accomplice were the “aggressors and instigators”.

“The offender wielded his knife as if it was a sword, which would have elevated the victim’s ordeal,” Judge Abadee said.

“The circumstances in which the wound was inflicted, including an unprovoked assault by a man apparently emulating a samurai warrior by wielding a long knife, would have added to the terror of the situation.”

The court heard Laidlaw, who was unemployed at the time, later told a psychiatrist voices he was hearing at the time “were yelling at him that the victims were talking about him in a negative manner”.

Judge Abadee said Laidlaw’s defence submitted the court should take into account his immaturity and mental state, including the voices, during sentencing.

The court heard Laidlaw’s juvenile juvenile accomplice was sentenced in the Children’s Court for using an offensive weapon in company with intent to commit an indictable offence. He received a good behaviour bond without conviction.

Judge Abadee sentenced Laidlaw to three years and two months jail with a non-parole period of one year and 10 months.