Thai tourist on knife rampage jailed 4.5 years
A knife-wielding Thai tourist who went on a rampage after a Queensland house party has been sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail.
Jinnawat Yasuk, 41, pleaded guilty on Thursday in the Brisbane District Court to unlawful wounding and grievous bodily harm.
Yasuk and his wife were staying with his sister in Bundaberg when the late-night attack on Pratiphan Auntip, 38, occurred in January.
The court heard Yasuk had been drinking heavily at a social gathering and began arguing with his wife about 10pm when she told him she was leaving him.
His sister tried to calm the altercation but Yasuk grabbed a 20cm kitchen-knife and chased his wife from the home.
She managed to escape back into the house and locked her knife-wielding husband outside.
He then threw a brick through a window, drawing Mr Auntip into the quarrel.
Justice Nathan Jarro says the pair exchanged words before a fight broke out.
“You slashed his head and stabbed him in the chest. He grabbed a chair and knocked you to the ground,” he said. “You could have easily killed him.”
Police found the men lying in a pool of blood.
Mr Auntip suffered a 10cm laceration to his forehead and small collapse of his right lung.
Justice Jarro said it was serious offending and Mr Auntip had a right to feel safe in the house he shared with Yasuk’s sister.
He sentenced Yasuk to four-and-a-half years in prison to be suspended after 12 months when Yasuk is likely to be deported.
