By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A Hallam man who critically injured another man by stabbing him 11 times outside a party in central Noble Park has been jailed.
Michael Lukudu, 31, pleaded guilty to intentionally causing serious injury and was sentenced in the Victorian County Court on 3 August.
Lukudu and a co-accused man had confronted and chased the then 24-year-old victim after Lukudu held a knife and threatened to slash the victim’s throat on Ian Street after 4am on 1 October 2016.
The co-accused men repeatedly punched the victim, before another male intervened.
Lukudu soon after pursued the same victim, and from atop of the fallen victim – in a position of “physical superiority” – stabbed him with “ferocity”, Judge Mark Gamble said.
After the “savage, cowardly and sustained attack”, he left the man to be tended by shocked witnesses.
The man suffered life-threatening injuries, including spending several days in intensive care and undergoing multiple blood tranfusions. Seven of the wounds were to the abdomen, one of the punctures to his chest pierced his lung.
He required 40 staples to his abdomen, with extensive plastic surgery expected in future.
The man suffered nightmares, social anxiety and a long and painful recuperative period that exhausted his work leave entitlements.
Judge Mark Gamble described the attack as vicious and protracted upon vital areas of the victim’s body. It was a “very serious” example of this offence.
It had been put to the court that Lukudu over-reacted to perceived threats due to post-traumatic stress disorder. This related to witnessing violence and death as a child in war-torn Sudan, as well as abuse and racism in Cairo.
However, Judge Gamble noted that there was no threat for Lukudu to react to on this occasion. The victim had tried to placate Lukudu, and displayed no aggression, the judge said.
Lukudu initially denied the stabbing or being at the party when being interviewed by police.
He had told a psychologist that he’d stabbed the victim because he was afraid the victim would grab Lukudu’s knife and attack him.
Judge Gamble said the victim was in no position to take the knife while Lukudu was wielding it with “such ferocity”.
Lukudu’s criminal history mainly comprised driving and public nuisance as well as assaults. He had not before committed anything of this magnitude, the judge noted.
Lukudu was jailed for nine years, with a six year, nine month non-parole period.
It included 553 days of pre-sentence detention since Lukudu’s arrest.
