Ashleigh Stephenson tries to stab Metro worker at Epping station

A man lashed out with a knife at Epping station after he was told he couldn’t take his pet pit bull onto a bus, narrowly missing a metro worker.

Stephenson tried to stab the Metro employee after his staffy wasn’t allowed on a bus.

An aggressive commuter tried to slash a Metro employee’s face with a knife after he was told he couldn’t board a bus with his pet pit bull, a court has heard.

Ashleigh Stephenson, 31, was sentenced to 21 days’ jail and a two-year corrections order at the Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court on Friday, January 15, having pleaded guilty to charges including without lawful excuse recklessly engaging in conduct that placed a person in danger of serious injury.

Stephenson was caught on CCTV lunging at a Metro worker’s face with a knife at Epping station just after noon on June 13, 2020.

He had just told the employee: “I’ve got a knife, I’m going to stab ya — I don’t care if you’ve got cameras.”

The knife narrowly avoided missing the employee’s face after the man quickly stepped back.

The court heard Stephenson, who was with his dog, ‘Tiger’, had become extremely agitated after the employee told him he could not take his dog on a bus he was trying to board.

Stephenson initially told the man, “I’m going to come back later and bash you,” before brushing past him.

He then turned and threatened to stab the employee, pulling a folding knife from his pants pocket, before fleeing the scene.

When Stephenson was granted bail on July 10, 21 days after his arrest, the court heard police couldn’t “stress enough how close the accused got to slashing the victim with the knife”.

It was heard Stephenson had been an ice addict who lived in his car before his arrest.

Magistrate Michael McNamara said Stephenson was “very lucky” his victim “was not far more seriously hurt”.

Mr McNamara said he hoped the 21 days Stephenson had already spent in prison had been enough to force him to change his behaviour.

He ordered Stephenson to complete 100 hours’ community work and programs for mental health, drug and alcohol addiction through the corrections order.