Thug indifferent after shock attack
A judge has ridiculed a dad-of-five’s plans to adopt a child as he was jailed for a “ferocious” act of street violence also involving his son.
A dad who “ferociously” stabbed a man who his son had attacked in a shocking act of random street violence will spend almost the remainder of the decade behind bars.
Jared Pihlgren, 53, faced the County Court of Victoria on Thursday after pleading guilty to a count of intentionally causing serious injury.
He appeared via a video link from prison, sitting with his arms crossed over his gut and slowly shaking his head at points.
Judge Helen Syme found he had not shown any remorse for the brutal stabbing, recognising his plea as an acceptance of the “overwhelming evidence” against him.
“I find this is an acceptance of the inevitable rather than genuine remorse,” she said.
The court heard Pihlgren’s victim, 35-year-old Jingu Kim, had left a karaoke bar in Melbourne’s CBD shortly after midnight on December 16, 2021, intending to walk home.
CCTV footage captured him being attacked by Pihlgren’s son, Jay Stephens, then-22, and punched multiple times before ending up wrestling on the ground.
Pihlgren, who until this point had stayed back from the fight, pulled a knife from his bum bag and stabbed Mr Kim in his back.
He then slashed the man across the back of his head, causing him to flop to the ground motionless.
Seven seconds later, Stephens stomped on Mr Kim’s head, leaving a significant indentation.
He was rushed to hospital in a life-threatening condition, with heart failure, lung collapse, spinal injuries and blunt force trauma injuries to his head and face.
In a victim impact statement to the court, Mr Kim said his heart had stopped for three minutes and he was left in a coma for three days.
He suffers continued pain and now is dealing with the impact on his mental health, including post traumatic stress disorder, panic attacks and anxiety.
Judge Syme blasted the shocking attack on a busy street as “completely unprovoked”.
She rejected an argument by the father-of-five’s lawyers that he joined the fight out of concern for his son.
“I do not accept this; good sense suggests if you have real concern about the welfare of your son, you would have stopped him attacking Mr Kim,” she said.
The court heard Pihlgren had a rap sheet dating back to the 1990s across Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland.
He had been released from prison just nine months earlier after making threats to Victoria Police officers on Facebook following the arrests of two sons.
Pihlgren, the court heard, had expressed a desire to adopt a child from overseas, with Judge Syme remarking agencies may want to consider this offence.
“You do not present as the ideal parent,” she said.
Pihlgren was labelled a serious violent offender and sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment.
He will be eligible for parole in late 2029.
Jay Stephens has pleaded guilty to intentionally causing injury and will be sentenced in the coming weeks.