Man jailed over repeatedly stabbing brother-in-law in the face

A man who was repeatedly stabbed in the face by his brother-in-law could have died from the injuries or suffered a brain disability, a court has heard.

A MAN who was repeatedly stabbed in the face by his brother-in-law could have attained a brain disability or died from the injuries, a court has heard.

Titjikala man Christopher Douglas, 30, pleaded guilty to one count of cause serious harm in Alice Springs Supreme Court.

On November 6, 2020, the court heard Douglas was drinking with others at a house before he and his brother-in-law ended up brawling in the street.

The court heard the victim said he “got the better of [Douglas]”, who then left the area before returning with a large kitchen knife with a 20-centimetre blade.

The victim then threw a rock at Douglas in “self-defence”, which hit him in the forehead.

“You approached [him] in the street and, with a downward thrust of the knife, stabbed him in the nose. The pointed tip of the knife pierced his nose, slicing open the left nostril and causing considerable bleeding,” Justice Jenny Blokland said.

“You repeated the downward thrust of the knife and stabbed [him] in the right cheek. The blade sliced into his cheek, causing a significant deep laceration that bled profusely.

“Bystanders rushed to his aid. You ran away and, a short time later, fled the community.

The court heard the victim was medically evacuated to Royal Darwin Hospital where he underwent surgery.

“Dr Elliott said that the victim suffered a 10-centimetre large, right cheek laceration, a left-sided nose laceration, and a right lip laceration.

“In theatre at hospital, Dr Elliott reported: ‘The nose was almost completely separated from the face. If left untreated, he was likely to have lost viability of his nose, ultimately leading to a significant infection and either spontaneous loss of his nose via necrosis, or to require surgical amputation of his nose. Untreated, infection in this area has a direct means of spreading to the brain, which could result in irreversible disability or even death.’”

The court heard Douglas returned to Titjikala four days after the attack and later in the month called the police and told them what happened.

Justice Blokland said Douglas was “sincere in wanting to deal with alcohol issues and behaviour regulation”.

He was convicted and sentenced to three years and four months jail, to be suspended after serving one year and eight months, with an operational period of two years from release.

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