The court heard that Bobby Anthony Chan, 48, left a person with a “significant [but] not life-threatening” injury. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
Bobby Anthony Chan, 48, faced the ACT Magistrates Court for sentencing on Friday (13 February) over charges of intentional wounding and possessing a knife without a reasonable excuse.
Magistrate James Lawton said the charges stemmed from an incident at a south Canberra campsite, when Chan and another person were arguing.
“In the course of that argument, he took a knife and stabbed the person in the left forearm,” Magistrate Lawton said.
“The injury [is] described as a ‘puncture wound’ … Using a knife in any sort of argument is entirely inappropriate.”
During sentencing, Chan’s lawyer described the offending as a “spontaneous” incident and said it occurred after the other person slapped him.
He urged the court to consider his client’s traumatic background, engagement with support services and his guilty pleas.
“There is no suggestion of him roaming around, causing any threat to the public,” Chan’s lawyer said.
“The sole reason for having that butter knife in his possession, again, was to protect himself [in the event] he encountered the complainant again.”
He asked the court for an intensive corrections order (ICO) for his client.
While his client had been judged as unsuitable for one last year, he pointed to changes in Chan’s personal circumstances, his stable accommodation and support from his partner.
“Those factors have now been addressed … [An ICO] is a sentencing option.”
He also sought a discount on Chan’s sentence to recognise his guilty pleas.
While they weren’t entered at the earliest stage of the proceedings, he said they indicated Chan had taken “responsibility and acceptance” for his actions.
The prosecutor agreed with a proposed discount and suggested one between 5 and 10 per cent.
“It is not the most significant example of the wounding charge before the courts … It is, however, apparent that the defendant’s problematic substance use fuels his offending,” she said.
“[A sentence must] reflect the need for his rehabilitation.”
Magistrate Lawton ultimately decided against handing Chan an ICO, saying that it risked “setting him up to fail” if he didn’t comply with it.
He said that while the incident was a serious example of the offending, it was at the lower end of the spectrum.
Chan was convicted of intentional wounding and handed a suspended nine-month sentence (reduced from 10 months).
He was also given a 12-month Good Behaviour Order.
On the charge of possessing a knife without a reasonable excuse, he was also convicted and no penalty was imposed.
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