Phoumy Rattanavong had been, by all accounts, a lousy employee.
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The Port Kembla resident had racked up several formal warnings for poor performance in the six months he'd worked at Smeaton Grange manufacturing company Glavcom and was even removed from working in one section of the business when the supervisor said he couldn't put up with his sub-standard output.
He regularly took days off and often failed to turn up to the factory on time when he did come to work, earning the ire of his bosses from the top down.
By the end of January this year, he'd been given his marching orders.
The decision not only angered Rattanavong, but apparently took the 44-year-old completely by surprise.
He sent harassing and threatening text messages to his supervisor for a week before turning up at the factory at 5.30pm on Monday, February 9, wanting answers.
He walked into the general manager's office and launched into an expletive-laden attack on the business, demanding to know who let him go.
"So who fired me? You? Bobby?" Rattanavong said, the second reference being to one of the site's supervisors with whom he'd worked for a time.
The manager pointed out Rattanavong had had 21 days of sick leave in three months, but that was apparently an insufficient explanation for Rattanavong, who responded by kicking his former boss in the upper thigh.
The manager grabbed his one-time employee and pushed him away, however Rattanavong reached into the bumbag he was wearing around his waist and pulled out a Stanley knife while continuing to argue. The manager said he didn't want any dramas and told Rattanavong to go.
Rattanavong left the office after a further argument and headed to the factory floor to his old work space.
He picked up a bottle and threw it at his one-time supervisor, who was speaking to another employee with his back to Rattanavong.
The bottle struck the supervisor in the head and smashed into pieces.
The second employee grabbed Rattanavong in a bear hug, prompting Rattanavong to stab him in the upper thigh with the Stanley knife before fleeing the site.
Both injured men received medical attention for minor injuries.
Rattanavong was arrested five days later in Port Kembla and charged with assault-related offences.
He told police he had a drink at a tavern before going to the factory. Rattanavong was sentenced to a minimum of eight months in jail, with Magistrate Michael Stoddart noting Rattanavong had a series of violent matters on his record.
Rattanavong lodged an appeal against the sentence but was denied bail in the interim.