Jailed for a year for Seymour stabbing

Tennant was aged 31 when he stabbed the 36-year-old victim on August 7, 2019, in Seymour.

The court heard Tennant had gone out of his house in Morrish Crt with two other men at 4am after they heard the victim hitting a gate of a house with a log of wood.

The man then demanded “gear” and threatened to bash Tennant and the others with him.

The defence told the court the man was also “banging on his chest” and saying “I’m mad Borrie”.

Tennant, who had used methamphetamines earlier that evening, punched the man at least six times before stabbing him five times.

Paramedics needed to treat what they believed was a punctured lung at the scene before the victim was flown to Melbourne’s The Alfred hospital.

Other injuries included lacerations to his kidney, spleen, liver and diaphragm.

The court was told that without paramedic treatment the injuries could have been life-threatening.

The victim spent four or five days in hospital and a victim impact statement to the court said the incident left him drug addicted and homeless, and scared to go out.

The prosecution argued the victim had thrown the wood away before he was stabbed, had not thrown any punches and had not threatened any of the men at that point, which was accepted by the judge.

In handing down the sentence, Judge Sandra Davis said the assault was “a disproportionate response to an ongoing threat”, however she said it fell at the “lower end” of endangering the victim’s life.

Judge Davies sentenced Tennant to 12 months in prison, to be followed by a 12-month community corrections order.

In deciding on the amount of time to be spent in prison, Judge Davies said she took into account 175 days “dead time” Tennant had spent on remand for another earlier matter that had only resulted in a fine.

The community corrections orders will include 100 hours of community work, with treatment and rehabilitation to be able to be counted towards all of these hours.