Stab accused stays in jail

AN Ingham man who allegedly stabbed another man, puncturing his lung, has been denied bail.

Anthony William Catchinda, 53, faced Townsville Magistrates Court yesterday charged with grievous bodily harm following the incident in Ingham early on Tuesday morning.

Police were called to an Ingham home about 1.30am and found a 35- year- old man with a wound to his back.

Catchinda’s solicitor applied for bail but police prosecutor Codie Rowe opposed bail, saying it was a serious offence and that the accused had a lengthy criminal history.

Mr Rowe told the court Catchinda was on probation at the time of the alleged offence and the prosecution had a strong case against him.

“As outlined in the objection to bail, the defendant, when police have arrived, made somewhat of an admission,” Mr Rowe said.

“Further … both the victim and two independent witnesses have observed the assault ( and) provided those statements to police. Once the defendant was questioned, the defendant has stated to police that the reason for his actions, if I can say that Your Honour, was that ‘ they smashed my window and table. I tried to call the police’, somewhat providing an explanation as to his behaviour.”

Mr Rowe said the stab wound went through the vic- tim’s lung and an X- ray showed internal bleeding.

“It’s a serious example of that type of offence of grievous bodily harm,” he said. “It can be described as a history of street level offending but Your Honour can see that throughout the five- page history, there are some more serious offences.”

Magistrate Scott Luxton denied bail, saying that even though Catchinda was willing to comply with strict conditions, he had to consider the serious nature of the alleged offence and his history.

“I believe the defendant represents an unacceptable risk of committing further offences and in that instance bail is refused,” he said.

The matter was adjourned to August 23.