Man arrested after woman stabbed in head at Sydney gym
A man has been arrested following an alleged domestic violence ambush at a popular gym in south Sydney, where a woman was stabbed in her head and neck with a kitchen knife.
Police & Courts
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A man has been arrested in relation to the alleged domestic violence ambush of a woman outside a Sydney gym, where she was stabbed in the throat with a kitchen knife.
The man, was on Wednesday night on the run while the 39-year-old woman, believed to be his partner, was being treated in hospital for serious injuries.
On Thursday morning he handed himself into officers at Dee Why Police Station, where he was subsequently arrested and taken to Manly Police Station, police say.
He is assisting police with their inquiries. No charges have been laid.
Earlier, police alleged that the man waited outside Crunch Fitness at Alexandria about 12.30pm and violently attacked the woman as she walked through the centre’s carpark.
The 39-year-old woman was on Thursday recovering in hospital with “non-life threatening injuries”, following the attack on Wednesday afternoon.
Workers arriving at their offices in the industrial complex stopped and stared at the large media presence outside the gym.
Witnesses recounted hearing the woman “scream, but not a normal scream”, then seeing “a man on top of her”.
Detective Superintendent Rodney Hart said the woman had been in a brief relationship with the man at the start of the year and that he waited for her outside the fitness centre she was known to visit daily.
He was armed with a “kitchen-style knife”, police said.
Det-Supt Hart said the man is described as having an olive-caucasian complexion, 170-175cm tall, with a “muscular to solid build” and dark hair, with possibly a dark beard.
He allegedly fled the scene in a grey Ford Focus hatchback.
“We believe that they have been in the past, earlier this year, in a very short domestic relationship,” Det-Supt Hart said.
The woman’s ordeal comes a day after the NSW Government announced a raft of new powers to tackle knife crime and amid a spate of horror domestic violence incidents.
“It’s horrendous what has happened to this poor woman,” Det-Supt Hart said.
“We are taking this matter extremely seriously. I’m grateful the victim, at this stage, is going to be OK.”
A gym-goer named Clare, who witnessed the ordeal, said she was alerted to the horror when she heard the woman screaming.
“I heard a scream, not like a normal scream,” she said.
Another witness, James, said he saw the woman run upstairs to the gym’s reception begging for help.
“There was blood coming from her neck, from her ears,” he said. “It was pretty scary to see.”
Police and paramedics rushed to the O’Riordan St fitness centre and found the woman in a serious condition. She was rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment.
The woman’s shoes and gym bag were strewn across the carpark after the attack.
Supt Hart said police urged the man to hand himself in.
“We are going to find him and we are going to arrest him,” he said.
He urged the public not to approach the man if they see him, but to call triple-0.
NSW Domestic Violence Prevention Minister Jodie Harrison on Wednesday night said it was shocking another incident had occurred.
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