Joseph Cassar pleads guilty to attempted murder of Port Melbourne tobacco store owner
The owner of a Port Melbourne convenience store was lucky to survive a 43-second stabbing rampage committed by one of her longtime customers.
The longtime owner of a Bay St, Port Melbourne convenience store was stabbed in the neck by a drug addicted customer who had set out to kill her after taking a large hit of ice and arming himself with a kitchen knife.
Joseph Cassar, 49, on Friday faced the Supreme Court after pleading guilty to attempted murder of Tan Lam, 64, who had owned and worked in the CTC convenience and tobacco store for more than 30 years.
Cassar, of nearby Pickle St, left his house on the morning of September 17 last year carrying a knife.
Cassar, a regular drug user, had purchased cigarettes from the store most weeks for years.
He jumped on the counter and pulled a knife on Ms Lam, who put her hands up in surrender, pointing him to the cash register and cigarettes.
But Cassar unleashed a 43 second attack, stabbing Ms Lam seven times, including once in the neck.
She bled profusely, and suffered significant damage to her hands from trying to fend Cassar off.
During the attack, she pleaded with Cassar, saying: “What are you doing? I have done nothing.”
A worker from a neighbouring store and a passing dog walker came to Ms Lam’s assistance after Cassar fled home and washed the knife.
During his arrest the next day he yelled at police: “What are you doing? What have I done?”
In a victim impact statement, Ms Lam said she suffers nightmares and flashbacks, cannot sleep properly, struggles to look after her grandson with injured hand, and cannot properly care for her terminally ill husband.
She sold the business following the attack.
Ms Lam’s son, Anthony Vong, said he “questions why bad things always happen to us”.
Cassar’s barrister, Jason Gullaci SC, said: “This was a brutal, violent, protracted, uncalled-for, unjustified attack.”
Mr Gullaci said the public was concerned about the prevalence of knife crime and machete crime.
Cassar had gone off his medication and took a large hit of methamphetamine the morning of the attack, and seemed to have no memory of it.
He said Cassar had “no idea” why police were at his house when they arrested him, and, in an interview with detectives “sort of can’t believe that he is charged with this”.
Crown prosecutor Erin Ramsay said: “This attack could have easily led to the death of the victim” and justified a long jail sentence.
Cassar’s lawyers had long tried to bargain down the charges he was facing, but the DPP refused to accept his offers to plead guilty to lesser charges.
Justice Andrew Tinney will sentence Cassar next Friday.
