Luke Button sentenced over stabbing a man in armpit at a Lake Macquarie home
Court document have revealed the 27-year-old man from Wyee had made threats to a family member prior to punching him multiple times and stabbing him in the armpit.
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A Wyee man who stabbed his mother’s boyfriend with a cutlery knife during an argument that followed a tense weekend away has been released to serve his sentence in the community.
Luke Button was sentenced for one charge of reckless wounding in Toronto Local Court on Friday, after pleading guilty in October.
The court heard the 27-year-old stabbed his mum’s partner during a “scuffle” at a Buttaba home.
The extended family had travelled to Forbes to visit a terminally ill family member on the weekend of October 4-5, last year.
Button had become aggravated after his mother’s boyfriend, who was supposed to lead the convoy home, failed to wait.
“It was the first time I had driven that way by myself,” Mr Button told the court.
“The plan was to follow. I didn't know where to go.”
The court heard Button, a recovering drug addict, was further aggravated by the victim’s alleged drug use over the weekend.
Tensions boiled over on the return from Forbes.
The court heard Button sent his mother a series of threatening text messages.
“I’ll just kill (the victim) because you care about him more than me,” one text message said.
“I’m very close to snapping, you know.”
The court heard Button‘s mother told him not to come to the Buttaba home she shared with her boyfriend, but he ignored her pleas.
On arrival the victim slammed the door in his face, sparking the physical altercation.
Button told the court the two struggled and the victim pinned him on the ground, before Button grabbed a “cutlery knife” from a nearby table and stabbed the victim in the armpit.
The injury was described as a “significant deep wound” requiring surgery.
The knife has never been recovered.
During sentencing on Friday, Button told the court he was seeking to better himself.
“I feel extremely sorry,” he said. “I wish I could apologise to him, I wish there was a way.
“I feel like an idiot.”
Magistrate Peter Barnett acknowledged Button was stressed by a number of factors, including the victim’s alleged drug use, at the time of stabbing.
He said that explained, but did not excuse or justify, Button’s actions.
Button, who has spent 158 days behind bars since his arrest, was sentenced to a 12-month jail term from Friday, to be served in the community as an intensive corrections order.
He was also ordered to complete 100 hours of community service, domestic violence and anger management training, counselling, and to abstain from alcohol.
UPDATED
Man threatened to kill family member before stabbing him
On October 20,2020 by Amy Ziniak
Court documents have revealed a Central Coast man had threatened to kill a family member before he went to his Lake Macquarie home and stabbed him in the armpit.
Luke Button, 27, got into a fight with the 47-year-old victim at a home on Earswick Crescent, Buttaba, at about 1.45pm on October 6.
Police were told the landscaper punched the man multiple times before stabbing him and fleeing from the scene.
The man suffered a deep laceration and was treated by paramedics before being taken to John Hunter Hospital for surgery.
The Wyee man was arrested a short time later on Wyee Rd, at Doyalson, before being charged with reckless wounding and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Court documents said Button had made specific threats to the victim prior to the assault and had stated he was going to kill him.
In Toronto Local Court on Tuesday, Button appeared via video link as his legal aid solicitor pleaded guilty to the charge of reckless wounding, while the offence of assault occasioning actual bodily harm will be used as a backup charge.
Bail was refused and his matter was adjourned to December.
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