Matthew Wright jailed for Nathan Peters garbo knife attack
A garbo put one of his co-workers (pictured) in a headlock and plunged a knife into his face and neck nine times in a frenzied attack. As he was today jailed, a court heard of the workplace taunt that supposedly caused him to flip.
Central Sydney
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The motivation behind an out-of-control stabbing rampage which left a man clinging to life was a series of teasing taunts about being the “number one garbo” between two City of Sydney contractors.
As the clock counted down to 2pm on November 5 last year, Nathan Peters rolled a cigarette in the shade of his Alexandria workplace and waited for knock-off with seven co-workers.
Moments later, in what was described as a cowardly attack, a knife-wielding Matthew Wright viciously attacked Mr Peters from behind. The court heard Wright, of Belrose, held the victim in a headlock with one hand as he repeatedly stabbed the man in the face and neck nine times with the other.
The madness only ended when two co-workers wrestled the knifeman away and hog-tied him until police arrived.
Tensions had been building in the weeks before the madness after an argument where Wright called himself the “number one garbo”. From that point on, Mr Peters called Wright “number one” whenever he saw him.
Wright raised the issue with the workplace’s union delegate who told Mr Peters to pipe down. Mr Peters then attacked Wright, saying “why are you a snitch”, “you are a dog” and “no one wants you here” and continued to taunt Wright by calling him “number one”.
On November 4, Wright again told a colleague how he “had enough” of the teasing and he was encouraged to have a conversation with Mr Peters, like they had been taught in harassment classes.
The next day both men arrived to work at 5:30am like any other day. The issue was again raised with team leaders at lunch time where Wright said “I don’t care about any of this, I got a business, I got a truck, I got plenty going on in my life”.
Less than two hours later, Wright grabbed a knife found in the workplace and launched into the vicious attack which hospitalised the victim for a fortnight.
The court heard Wright had been bullied at school and was raised in a strong Christian family, however was homeless at points of his life.
Judge Noman said there had been a “profound impact” on Mr Peters, who is expected to undergo more surgery, but found Wright’s chances of rehabilitation as “promising”.
Wright was sentenced to six years jail, with a non parole period of three years and nine months. He will be eligible for parole in August 2023.
Supporters of Mr Peters lashed out at the sentence, calling it “sh**”, as they left court.