Knife attack horror

Stabbing revealed in documents

A restaurant worker in Cambridge who had just had a knife plunged into her back, puncturing one of her lungs, fled in terror from her alleged attacker.

Court documents have revealed dramatic details of the moment a customer and two staff members were allegedly assaulted by an intruder in the Sahara India Restaurant in the suburb of Leamington on Wednesday night.

A 31-year-old person appeared in the Hamilton District Court yesterday, charged with three counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and one of causing intentional damage to property.

Defence counsel Glenn Dixon successfully argued for interim name suppression for his client, and this was granted by Judge Paul Mabey QC, who remanded the accused in custody and without plea to next appear on May 18.

The reasons for the name suppression are themselves suppressed. However, the judge granted media present in court access to the police’s summary of facts on the case.

Although some parts of that document – which sets out the police allegations – cannot be reported without leading to the identification of the defendant, it can be revealed the accused person entered the restaurant through the back door about 8.35pm.

Inside, two of the victims – a man and a woman – were standing in the kitchen with their backs to the door.

As the summary alleges, the accused entered the kitchen, with one arm raised and, holding a knife, approached the man ‘‘in a quick and aggressive manner’’ before stabbing him in the left shoulder in a downwards motion.

A customer who was in the restaurant at the time attempted to intervene but was allegedly stabbed in his abdomen. He lost about a litre of blood as a result.

As the summary notes, it is unclear how the female victim suffered her injuries, which were severe. They included a laceration to the left side of her face and a stab wound to her upper left back, which punctured her right lung causing it to collapse and blood to flow into her chest cavity.

In spite of her injuries, the female victim ran out the front doors of the restaurant and across the road to the BP service station to get help.

Meanwhile, the accused walked out of the restaurant holding a chair, which was allegedly thrown at the business’ front windows, smashing them.

The defendant declined to be interviewed by the police. However, the summary records that while being forensically swabbed by a doctor in the presence of a police detective, the person allegedly stated: ‘‘This is a bit excessive for only stabbing three people.’’

The defendant appeared in the courtroom via audio-visual link from the courthouse cells.

The charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm comes with a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

‘‘This is a bit excessive for only stabbing three people.’’

Defendant, allegedly while being swabbed