By Mark Russell, The Age
A Vietnamese refugee who plunged a knife into a stranger’s head, penetrating his brain, during a home invasion has been jailed for six years.
Quoc Tran, Vietnamese refugee who plunged a knife into a stranger’s head, penetrating his brain, during a home invasion has been jailed for six years. (MCT via Getty Images)
Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Hollingworth said Quoc Tran, a daily user of heroin and ice, was armed with a knife and wearing a balaclava when he knocked on the front door of a house in Kings Park, in Melbourne’s north-west, determined to confront an associate, Hoang Tran, about threats he had allegedly made to his younger brother.
But when Justin Younes, a friend of Mr Tran’s sister, answered the door, the two men struggled before Mr Younes was stabbed three times, including once in the head. The blow to the head fractured Mr Younes’ skull and pierced his brain.
Mr Younes was taken to hospital and underwent brain surgery but was not expected to live.
He spent a week on life support, 10 days in intensive care and seven weeks in the neurosurgery ward at the Royal Melbourne Hospital but the judge did not know his current medical condition because he had decided not to make a victim impact statement.
“There is a need for general deterrence in this case,” Justice Hollingworth said in sentencing Tran, 38, on Tuesday to six years’ jail with a non-parole period of four years.
Tran pleaded guilty to one charge of intentionally causing serious injury.
“People must be deterred from carrying dangerous weapons such as knives, which can so easily be used with lethal consequences if an unexpected situation arises,” she said.
Justice Hollingworth said Tran grew up in a small village in Vietnam where his father was a fisherman.
“You grew up in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, and life in the village was tough,” the judge said.
“Food was scarce. You recall soldiers coming into your village and stealing things. You saw soldiers assault and shoot people.
Read the full story by Mark Russell from The Age.
