Christian Spencer Fairclough, 33, voluntarily attended Belconnen Police Station at 6.30pm on Friday, 10 minutes after police found a man lying on the ground with stab wounds to his back, neck, head and shoulder outside a nearby Howie Court unit.

Mr Fairclough's driver's licence and sports bag were found within the Belconnen unit, in addition to blood splatter and a 13-centimetre knife with blood residue on it.

He appeared in the ACT Magistrates Court on Saturday charged with one count of intentional wounding.

The defendant told police he was new to Canberra and was invited to the unit by a man he had recently met, court documents said. He entered and found the man and his girlfriend, but another man soon entered the room and locked the door behind him.

The first man, his girlfriend and the second man then all threatened to murder the defendant, with the first man holding a knife and the girlfriend a syringe, the court documents said.

The court was told the couple said they had murdered people before.

The two people left the unit after taking $650 from the defendant's wallet but, concerned he would be killed, the defendant picked up a knife and began swinging it at the remaining man, also armed with a knife, the documents said.

Police said the injured man remained in hospital on Saturday and was not yet in a position to complete an interview.

The duty defence lawyer said there was an argument the defendant was a victim and not the perpetrator.

Chief Magistrate Lorraine Walker said while there was a likelihood the case would be an argument about self-defence, the wounds were serious and the overall circumstances warranted refusing bail.

No plea was entered. The matter returns to court on Tuesday, February 16.