The case of a criminal cleanskin who allegedly stabbed a passing stranger in Wollongong's city centre Friday night has confounded a local magistrate.
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Justin Boenesch's alleged victim was still recovering in hospital on Monday afternoon as the 23-year-old faced Wollongong Local Court in a failed bid for bail.
The court heard Boenesch had seemed to deliberately intercept the 53-year-old man on Atchison St on Friday about 11.20pm, after the older man departed City Diggers club with his 50-year-old partner and walked towards home.
Police allege Boenesch became immediately verbally upset after the older man asked him how he was, and that two scuffles ensued. The injured man has told police he felt what he thought were punches to his ribs. He said his attacker told him he'd been stabbed and that he then put his hands to his stomach and felt bleeding.
In court Monday, Magistrate Chris McRobert considered photographs showing four stab wounds to the man's stomach and back. The court heard the man was rushed to Wollongong Hospital to undergo surgery and spent time in the ICU.
Police arrested Boenesch at his Wollongong address Saturday night. He allegedly "admitted to certain things" and produced the injured man's phone, which had fallen from his pocket during the assault.
Boenesch told police he had drunk 5-8 beers with his dad in Port Kembla earlier that night before catching the train to Wollongong station and heading home via Atchison St.
There, he alleged he was assaulted by the older man, pointing to injuries to his chin, lip and eye. He said he spotted a piece of metal on the ground during the assault and used it as a way of escaping, an explanation that drew incredulity from the bench on Monday.
"Frankly I find that explanation very difficult to accept," Magistrate McRobert said. "The victim is walking home with his wife from a social evening. He's 53 years of age; he has no reason to confront a 23-year-old man on the streets at night.
"How do you explain that one of the four stab wounds is in the victim's back? And why are there four and not one?
"That seems to me to be inconsistent with an argument that the accused was acting in defence of himself. It is even more inconsistent when one takes into account that somehow or another he seems to be in possession of some form of stabbing instrument, which he describes as a piece of metal which just happens to be there when this confrontation [occurs]."
Police prosecutor Leah Argent opposed bail, alleging Boenesch had come at his victim from behind.
"It is my submission that, given the serious nature of the offence, the fact it occurred in a public place, to a person unknown to him, that if granted bail the community will be put at risk," she said.
"It's also a concern that the [victim's] phone was stolen after the stabbing, the inference being to prevent the victim calling for help."
The court heard Boenesch was a cleanskin - someone with no prior criminal history - but now faced a maximum potential penalty of 25 years imprisonment, with a standard non-parole period of seven years.
The injured man remained in Wollongong Hospital on Monday, in a stable condition.
In applying for bail, Boenesch's defence lawyer told the court his client had made no admissions of guilt, only "admissions of what took place".
"I've advised him to maintain his right to silence, beyond anything that's already been told to police in response to the matter," he said.
Magistrate McRobert refused bail, noting the case against Boenesch was "overwhelming".
"I'm at a loss to explain how this happened, but the risk to the community in general and the victim specifically can't be addressed by bail conditions," he said.
"A sentence of full-time imprisonment is highly likely, to the point of near-certainty."
Boenesch walked noticably slowly as he left the dock in the custody of corrective services officers.
The matter returns to court May 12.
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