A Belconnen man accused of stabbing a former partner's friend after finding the pair lying fully clothed on top of a bed together has been sent for a mental health assessment.
The 36-year-old appeared briefly in the ACT Magistrates Court on Saturday, after he was arrested following a two-hour standoff with police on Friday afternoon.
Police allege the man rode an electric scooter to the house of a former partner in Lyneham on Wednesday night, where he found his former partner and a friend lying asleep on top of a bed.
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The pair had earlier had dinner with the woman's mother at the house and then watched television together before falling asleep on the woman's bed, police documents said.
The man now accused of the stabbing is alleged to have begun yelling after entering the bedroom before leaving the bedroom and sending his former partner two threatening text messages, including warning her that her friend was a "dead man walking".
Documents tendered in court said the man allegedly pulled a black-handled Bowie or hunting knife and stabbed his former partner's friend in the back.
The mother of the man's former partner, who was awoken by the noise of the altercation, police alleged, yelled at the man to leave.
The man who was stabbed was taken to Canberra Hospital in critical condition and spent time in intensive care.
The stabbed man received 16 stitches to treat two wounds before he was released from hospital.
Police negotiated with the 36-year-old Belconnen man accused of intentionally inflicting actual bodily harm for two hours on Friday afternoon at his unit before taking him into custody, court documents said.
Magistrate James Stewart ordered a mental health assessment to determine whether the man was fit to answer the charge.
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Jasper Lindell
Jasper Lindell joined the Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine on Saturdays. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
Jasper Lindell joined the Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine on Saturdays. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
