Stabbing accused guilty of assault
An Oaks Estate man accused of stabbing his girlfriend and her housemate in a jealous fit has been cleared of intentionally wounding the pair and stealing $140.
But the 33-year-old was found guilty of assault.
The man, who cannot be named, was on trial before a jury in the ACT Supreme Court charged with two counts of intentional wounding and one of theft.
The Crown alleges the man had an argument with his then-girlfriend in February last year. Her male housemate, who had previously had a brief fling with the woman, attempted to console her in the bedroom of their Florey home.
When the man came upon the pair and saw the woman was partially undressed, he allegedly grabbed a knife from the kitchen and stabbed them in a jealous fit.
Prosecutor Anthony Williamson told the court the housemate had struck the man with a baseball bat but the defendant escaped, stealing $140.
But the man's defence barrister, Anthony Hopkins, argued that he walked in on the pair having sex and was attacked and beaten, apparently with a didgeridoo, when he tried to retrieve his belongings from his then-girlfriend's bedroom.
He grabbed the knife from the kitchen to fend off the couple but was attacked again outside the bedroom and accidentally stabbed his then-girlfriend in the stomach.
The man maintained that any injury to the housemate occurred when he was trying to get away from the other man.
Mr Hopkins told the jury his client ran out to the back gate of the property but was attacked by the housemate, who bashed him with a baseball bat until he retreated to the house and eventually escaped through a window.
He told the court the key to the incident could lie in blood spatters found in the kitchen near the drawer that had held the knife, which was evidence the man had been attacked before he armed himself with a knife.
During the three-day trial the court heard the man, his girlfriend and her housemate were all heavily intoxicated and the man and his partner had taken drugs.
The jury heard the woman had been hysterical and engaged in bizarre behaviour that included removing her clothes and masturbating in the ambulance on the way to the hospital, where she was treated for a 2.5cm stab wound.
Yesterday the jury took just over five hours to come to a verdict, clearing the defendant of stealing and intentionally wounding the woman and her housemate.
But they found him guilty on an alternative charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm to the woman.
Justice John Burns is expected to sentence the Oaks Estate man next month.
