Aidan James Conaughton: Man faces court over Ballarat Central stabbing

The victim of a “blood curdling” stabbing in Ballarat asked his grandmother to help as he collapsed in her lounge room screaming in pain.

Aidan James Conaughton, now 27, is alleged to have stabbed an 18-year-old with a steak knife in August 2020.

A Ballarat grandmother woke to “the sound of blood curdling” screams when a man stabbed her teenage grandson in her home.

Aidan James Conaughton, now 27, stabbed an 18 year old with a steak knife in August 2020.

The Ballarat County Court heard that in the lead-up to the incident, Conaughton took methamphetamine and drank alcohol at a friend’s home in Alfredton and then went to a gathering at a flat in Sebastopol.

There, he and several co-accused attacked the victim, punching and kicking him, leaving him with a fractured nose and eye socket.

They had the victim drive them to his grandmother’s home in Ballarat Central, where he lived, in order to steal from him.

A scuffle ensued in the victim’s bedroom: Conaughton picked up a steak knife from the bedside table, held it near the victim’s throat, and swung at him, cutting the “webbing” on the victim’s hand when he grabbed the blade.

Conaughton stabbed the teenager three times in the stomach and once in the buttocks before fleeing.

The victim, leaning against the front door of the home, asked his woken grandmother to help him and collapsed in the lounge room screaming in pain.

He was taken to the emergency department and soon moved to the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

His perforated bowel required the use of a colostomy bag for six to 12 months.

Conaughton was later arrested and appeared in Ballarat County Court charged with aggravated burglary, intentionally causing injury, and recklessly causing injury – charges to which he pleaded guilty at a hearing in February.

A statement by the victim’s grandmother was read in court.

She said the day before the attack was the last time she felt safe in her own home, and that morning she woke to “the sound of blood curdling and people screaming inside my house”.

“He was, my grandson, hysterically screaming, ‘I’ve been stabbed,’” the statement said.

“I was so scared because I didn’t know whether these people were coming back.

“I was incoherent. I was in shock.

“I just want to leave Ballarat now.”

On Friday, Conaughton was sentenced to three years and ten months’ imprisonment with a non-parole period of two years and eight months and with 557 days already served.