A MOUNT CLEAR man who was high on a cocktail of ice and cocaine when he stabbed two people after a late-night CBD brawl was sentenced to three years and nine months’ jail on Thursday.
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In sentencing Kyle Auchettl, 27, Judge Paul Grant said: “You should not have been going out partying carrying a
knife.
“In my experience, there’s a short step between carrying a knife and using it and, in this instance, it proved the
case.”
Mr Grant told a County Court sitting in Ballarat that Auchettl’s judgment was impaired by the drugs he had taken.
“It’s a reminder of the terrible impact consumption of these drugs can have on people’s lives,” he said.
In summarising the victim impact statements, Mr Grant said one victim, who was slashed on his neck while he stood in a maxi taxi doorway, was constantly reminded of the attack by looking at his scar.
The other victim, who was stabbed in the back by Auchettl, was still suffering psychologically from the incident on December 9, 2012, and had only returned to work this year.
Auchettl’s case was originally set for a trial, with identity set to be the main issue deliberated by a jury.
However, one of the victims gave a new statement to police on July 16, in which he said Auchettl arranged to meet him and
apologised for the stabbing.
Mr Grant, reading the new statement out in court, said: “Kyle then asked not to tell anyone we’d met. I knew we shouldn’t have been talking as I was about to give evidence but I was scared and wanted closure.”
Mr Grant said he gave Auchettl some credit for pleading guilty, despite the fact it came “very late in the day”. Mr Grant said Auchettl’s prospects for rehabilitation were good given his lack of criminal history before the event.
Auchettl, who pleaded guilty on Monday to one charge of intentionally causing injury and one charge of intentionally causing serious injury, will serve a minimum of two years and three months before he is eligible for parole.