A South Coast furniture removalist has admitted to glassing a man in the stomach during a vicious, public brawl outside Wollongong's Sage Hotel on Australia Day.
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Dylan Ford, 27, carried out the brutal stabbing in the hotel's driveway just before 9.30pm following a dispute between two groups over the alleged theft of a mobile phone.
The victim was left bleeding profusely and underwent treatment at Wollongong Hospital to irrigate and stitch up the gaping wound.
Ford was originally charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm but pleaded guilty to the lesser charges of reckless wounding and affray in Wollongong Local Court this week under a plea deal negotiated with prosecutors.
A set of agreed facts tendered to the court reveal Ford was staying with male friends in a room on the sixth floor of the hotel when his group began interacting with another group of friends celebrating Australia Day with drinks and music on the balcony of a nearby unit block.
Police described the initial communication throughout the afternoon as "jovial", saying the hotel group were even calling out song requests to the unit group.
At one stage, two of the people from the unit left to pick up McDonald's and ran into Ford on the street.
He introduced himself as "Fordy" and followed them back to the unit to join their party.
Later in the evening, six men from the hotel group arrived at the unit, saying "we're Fordy's mates".
They were allowed inside but told to "respect the house".
They left less than 30 minutes later, at which time one of the women in the unit noticed her mobile phone was missing.
Ford became angry, believing one of his friends may have taken the phone and said "I will put my boys in their place. I swear to God if one of them stole it from you I'll fight my own boys."
He then took a set of black knuckle dusters and a steak knife from the kitchen of the unit and left, along with the rest of those left in the unit.
Both groups confronted each other outside the entrance to the hotel.
Ford was initially there in support of the group from the unit but at some stage during the argument turned on the unit group and began yelling at them.
A brawl ensured between the two groups, at which time Ford was seen on CCTV pulling out the knife,.
One of the females from the unit put him in a headlock and called out to another male from the unit "the knife, he's got a knife, get it out of his hand".
The man managed to wrestle the knife away from Ford, however Ford then picked up a beer bottle from a nearby bench, smashed the bottom of it and charged at the man, stabbing him in the right side of the stomach with the lacerated edge.
The victim fell to the ground, clutching the open wound.
Two women from the unit ran at Ford and managed to hold him on the ground.
Police arrived a short time later. Ford tried to flee the scene but was pursued by officers, who arrested him in a neighbouring backyard.
He was found in possession of almost 2g of MDMA when searched by police.
He was subsequently taken to Wollongong Police Station and put in a time-out due to his level of intoxication, police said.
Meanwhile, the victim was stabilised at the scene before being taken to Wollongong Hospital for treatment.
Ford was refused bail in court the following day and has remained behind bars ever since.
He will face Wollongong District Court on September 18 when a date will be set for his sentencing.
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