By Georgina Mitchell
A Sydney real estate agent snorted a “massive” line of cocaine with a rolled-up banknote and behaved like a character from the Joker film in the moments before he elbowed one woman to the face and attacked another with a samurai sword, a court has heard.
Karl Howard, 46, is facing a judge-alone trial in the NSW District Court accused of the violent attack at his home in Annandale, in the city’s inner west, in the early hours of February 8, 2021.
Karl Howard is arrested by police.Credit: NSW District Court
He has pleaded not guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent to murder and causing grievous bodily harm with intent. He offered guilty pleas to two lesser charges, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and recklessly causing grievous bodily harm, but prosecutors rejected them.
On Friday, Judge Antony Townsden noted that the acts carried out by Howard were not in dispute, with the sole issue in the trial being his intent at the time.
In a statement tendered to the court on Friday, a woman described being “petrified” and running for her life after watching Howard swing the samurai sword at her friend.
The woman said she and her friend had taken cocaine and drunk alcohol with Howard during a gathering at his home, before Howard started “behaving like a little boy, laughing with a high-pitched voice as he skipped and ran” between rooms.
Karl Howard pictured outside court this week.Credit: Brook Mitchell
She said Howard grabbed a bag of cocaine, poured it onto a plate on the kitchen bench, and “snorted a massive line of cocaine using a note of money” before he tried to kiss her friend and “looked back toward me in a spiteful, evil manner”.
“Karl continued skipping and laughing again and said something to me like ‘I need to kill you. You need to die,’ ” the woman said. “He reminded me of the scene out of the movie the Joker as he said it with a smile on his face as he laughed and sang a child’s song.”
A police photograph of the samurai sword recovered from Howard’s home.Credit: NSW District Court
The woman said Howard brandished a samurai sword and held it with both hands, flicking off the sleeve “which made a distinctive sound which I can still hear in my head today”.
“Karl rushed towards [my friend] as she crouched down to protect herself,” the woman said. “Karl lifted the sword above his shoulder height before quickly swinging the sword down onto [her] body as [she] screamed out ‘no’ in absolute panic and fear.
“The force of him hitting her with the sword made me think [she] was dead. Karl again brought the sword up above his shoulder with his focus on [her], like I wasn’t even in the room ... I rushed toward the top of the stairs, running for my life.”
Howard speaks to police from his hospital bed.Credit: NSW District Court
Both women managed to flee, receiving help from neighbours, while Howard also left the property.
In CCTV vision played to the court on Friday, Howard could be seen climbing into the tray of a ute parked at the side of the road and lying on his back as a police car drove past, before climbing out and stumbling onto the road. He was arrested nearby.
Karl Howard climbs into the tray of a ute.Credit: NSW District Court
Police body-cam video showed Howard writhing on the ground making growling noises as police arrested him. One officer radioed for an ambulance, saying, “This guy’s having some sort of psychotic episode.”
In a statement, one of the arresting officers described Howard as gritting his teeth, biting his lips, yelling out nonsensical remarks, and repeatedly saying: “I’m going to kill you, I’m going to kill you.” The officer said Howard would fall asleep for a few moments, followed by rage when he woke up.
Speaking to police from a hospital bed on February 9, Howard asked if the women were OK, then sobbed, holding his hand on his head, as he said, “I don’t know what happened.
“Oh god, f---, it’s crazy,” he said. “I’m just really worried about them.”
A police car drives past as Howard lies in the tray of the ute.Credit: NSW District Court
Howard later told a forensic psychiatrist he had been “awake for seven days straight” in the lead-up to the incident, drinking alcohol and taking up to five grams of cocaine a day.
He said he went through 80 grams of cocaine in 15 days, racking up a $24,000 bill.
Dr Olav Nielssen opined that Howard was experiencing toxic delirium from “continuous use of very large quantities of cocaine” and lack of sleep, and was most likely incapable of appreciating that what he was doing was wrong.
The trial continues.
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correction
A previous version of this story stated that Howard pleaded guilty to recklessly causing actual bodily harm. He pleaded guilty to recklessly causing grievous bodily harm.