Dominic Lagudi sentenced for stabbing of two Nepalese chefs on Devonshire St, Newcastle West

A teenager who plunged a knife into the neck of one stranger after slashing another has been told he was lucky he was not facing more serious charges and a jail term “three or four times” more than what he got. WARNING: Graphic content.

It was 15 seconds of horrifically extreme violence stemming from years of drug abuse and a lifetime of misery.

Dominic Lagudi had turned 18 just two days before he confronted two strangers in a Newcastle laneway a few hours before dawn and lunged at them with his fists and then a knife – slashing the elbow and forearm of one man before plunged the blade into the neck of his shocked friend as he came to help.

In sentencing Lagudi to a maximum four years and 10 months jail, Downing Centre District Court Judge Troy Anderson accepted evidence that the incident could have been much worse if not for immediate medical intervention.

Judge Anderson also accepted Lagudi was in a drug-induced psychosis at the time of the stabbings, something the teenager also told police after his arrest.

“F--k knows, I was f--ked up,” Lagudi told investigators after his arrest six weeks after the stabbings on January 19 last year.

Moments after Dominic Lagudi lands two punches on one of the victims, he stabs that man in the arm and a second in the neck during the random attack on Devonshire St at Newcastle West on January 19, 2023. Picture: Supplied

He also said: “F--ked up, abusing the meth, it literally fried my brain.”

The court heard Lagudi had been using meth since he was 15 and had also abused LSD, cocaine and GHB. The drug use had followed a troubled upbringing.

Dominic Lagudi. Picture: NBN News.

Lagudi and his then girlfriend, 31-year-old Amelia Rose Weller, were dropped off near Devonshire St – a laneway which runs between King and Hunter streets at Newcastle West – minutes before the two men arrived.

The victims, both Nepalese chefs, were near the entrance of the Asian Star brothel when Lagudi confronted the first of the men about 3.30am.

He threw two punches before using a knife to slash the man’s elbow and arm, causing a 12.5cm-long laceration.

It was when the victim’s friend, who was only a few metres away, became involved that Lagudi lunged at him, plunging the knife into the left side of the man’s neck.

Dominic Lagudi moved the knife from his left hand to his right before slashing one man and plunging the blade into a second man’s neck. Picture: Supplied

The court heard it caused a 3cm wound, which could have became life-threatening if he didn’t receive immediate medical attention.

The men stumbled out into Hunter St as a police car and ambulance were driving past before being rushed to hospital.

The man who suffered the neck injury needed emergency surgery after pressure on the wound stopped his airway being “compromised”.

Judge Anderson said Lagudi was “very lucky” and he could have been facing a sentence “three or four times” what he was facing.

The judge said he took into account Lagudi’s terrible upbringing and other factors in finding special circumstances.

He had also shown remorse for the attack.

Lagudi’s early guilty pleas for charges of reckless wounding and wounding a person with intent to cause grievous bodily harm also attracted a 25 per cent discount.

He sentenced Lagudi to a non-parole period of two years and 10 months.

With time already served, Lagudi will not be eligible for parole until January 31, 2026.

Weller was sentenced to a two-year community corrections order for being an accessory after the fact.