David Aaron Blanch accused of unlawful wounding, mistrial declared

The trial of a 47-year-old man accused of dropping a cupboard on a man and then stabbing him has been aborted after a juror Googled the defendant’s name. Read what went down in the courtroom:

The trial of a 47-year-old Tin Can Bay man accused of stabbing a young man in the head during a fight at a notorious Gympie unit complex was declared a mistrial on Tuesday morning.

David Aaron Blanch was charged with unlawfully wounding 23-year-old Chris Davidson in a pre-Christmas fight in 2020.

He pleaded not guilty.

Tuesday marked day two of Mr Blanch’s trial, where he was cross examined from the witness box in the Gympie District Court.

But after the cross-examination, Judge Michael Burnett declared the matter a mistrial due to technical reasons and the jury was dismissed. The court heard a juror had Googled the defendant’s name online.

The matter was adjourned until the next Gympie District Court call over date.

David Aaron Blanch from Tin Can Bay had his matter declared a mistrial after it was revealed a juror had googled his name. Photo: Facebook

During the cross-examination on Tuesday, Mr Blanch claimed he feared for his life during the fight when a knife was allegedly thrown at his head.

He was supported by one person in the public gallery.

“When I was punching on with (Mr Davidson), a knife came flying across and hit the wall next to me head,” he said.

“That scared me half to death, honestly.”

He said this prompted him to grab a butter knife from his kitchen, which was just inside his unit, to protect himself.

“I said ‘f--- off, get out of here now’ and he started punching me again,” he said.

He said the butter knife then hit Mr Davidson in the head, and Mr Davidson “ran off”.

“I wasn’t trying to kill him or anything.”

Mr Blanch said he did not know Mr Davidson, and did not know who allegedly threw the knife that narrowly missed his head.

He rejected claims from the prosecution that he was “pissed off” about losing the earlier fight, and struck Mr Davidson out of anger.

Mr Davidson gave evidence on Monday that he had been walking upstairs at the Lawrence St unit complex when a cupboard fell and hit him on the right shoulder.

The court heard Mr Davidson, who had consumed eight or 10 cans of alcohol and smoked a joint earlier in the day, “saw red” and charged at Mr Blanch.

Gympie District Court generic.

He hit the 47-year-old with his fists 10-15 times, it heard.

Mr Davidson said in the aftermath of the fight Mr Blanch went to his apartment and returned with a serrated knife.

Mr Davidson said he tried to grab the blade from Mr Blanch, who struck him in the side of the head with the knife.

He was left with a gash that needed eight staples to close.

Under cross examination Mr Davidson denied Mr Blanch only armed himself after one of the 23-year-old‘s friends threw a small silver knife at him.

Mr Blanch‘s lawyer challenged Mr Davidson’s recollection of events, including whether he actually saw Mr Blanch drop the cupboard.

Mr Davidson denied claims he had been racially abusing Mr Blanch following the first fight, including calling him a “white c---t”.

The court heard Mr Davidson originally told medical professionals he had been injured in a skateboarding accident.

Originally published as David Aaron Blanch accused of unlawful wounding, mistrial declared