Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Man charged over co-worker stabbing

18 Aug, 2010

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A dispute between co-workers at a Dickson restaurant ended with one man suffering wounds to his face and near the base of his skull.

Hongfeng Ma, 34, was remanded in custody after appearing in the ACT Magistrates Court charged with two offences related to the attack.

A police statement of facts tendered to court said Ma attacked co-worker Qiang Zhou in the kitchen area of the Dickson Dumpling House about 9.30pm on Monday as staff were preparing to close.

Ma was armed with a meat cleaver and Swiss pocket knife attached to a key-chain.

Appearing in court yesterday, Ma was dressed in police issue coveralls and was kept abreast of proceedings through a Cantonese interpreter.

The statement of facts says Qian Zhou received a stab wound to the ''base of his skull near the top of the spinal cord and a deep laceration from the left corner of his mouth to [the] base of his cheekbone''.

A co-worker intervened and wrestled Ma to the ground with the help of a second person. The police statement said Ma would not release his grip on the meat cleaver or pocket knife.

The statement said a waiter kicked the meat cleaver out of Ma's hand before using a piece of broken wood to pry the pocket knife from his grasp.

The statement said two men at the nearby Sub-Urban restaurant witnessed the incident and called 000.

When police attended they found Ma with blood on his hands, face and clothing.

In an interview early yesterday, Ma told police through an interpreter he ''had been thinking about what he was going to do and opened the knife about 20 minutes before he began to stab Mr Zhou''. He said he believed Mr Zhou would harm him if he did not act first and stated ''I feel anxiety''.

Ma's counsel made no application for bail and said his client would undergo a psychiatric assessment. He was remanded in custody to appear on August 30

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