Update: The NSW Director of Public Prosecutions withdrew all charges against Sara McDonald on July 23, 2018 on the day her scheduled trial was due to begin.
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A recent stabbing at Lake Illawarra that left a 32-year-old man with a punctured lung occurred in the midst of a consensual ‘threesome’, a court has heard.
Sara Joyce McDonald, 36, is accused of using a carving knife to stab her flatmate and possible casual lover, Paul Marshall, on March 16 after she becoming upset while trying to join him and another woman in a threesome.
Court documents reveal McDonald and Marshall lived together in the Grove Circuit house but were not dating, although police said the circumstances of the stabbing may indicate they were in casual sexual relationship.
The pair was with two other males and an unidentified female in the house on the morning of March 16 when they broke off into respective groups to have sex, police said.
It is alleged the victim and the female were having sex in a converted garage, while McDonald and the two other men were together in an upstairs bedroom.
At one stage, McDonald allegedly told the men she was going downstairs to join Marshall and the other woman for sex.
The court heard McDonald attempted to join the pair however allegedly became upset (for reasons not disclosed in court) and began to argue with Marshall. McDonald went into the kitchen, followed a short time later by Marshall.
One of the men inside the house later told police Marshall yelled out “the f--king slut has stabbed me” moments after entering the kitchen.
The witness said Marshall had blood on his chest and there was blood “everywhere in the kitchen”.
The man told police he saw McDonald sitting on a chair, holding a knife and crying.
Marshall was treated by paramedics at the scene before being flown to St George Hospital where he underwent emergency surgery on a punctured lung.
Meantime, McDonald was arrested and taken to Lake Illawarra Police Station to be interviewed.
She allegedly admitted to stabbing Marshall but claimed she had been acting in self defence.
She told police Marshall had advanced on her with the weapon in his hand and she had managed to wrestle it from him before stabbing him.
McDonald was charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and released on bail the following day on the condition she report daily to police.
However she was re-arrested on Sunday evening after failing to report that day.
Her bail was reinstated in court on Monday after McDonald told Magistrate Michael Stoddart a migraine had prevented her from leaving the house.
The matter will return to court later this month.
