A Launceston man has been sentenced to three years in prison for striking his friend in the head with a homemade machete during a dispute over tools.
Beau Allan Ruffels, 34, was found guilty by a jury of committing an unlawful act intended to cause bodily harm.
The Supreme Court heard Ruffels had been arguing with the victim over tools he claimed to have purchased from him in the days before the attack on February 5, 2024.
Despite knowing the man could be aggressive, Ruffels went to confront him while carrying a machete with a 400mm blade he had sharpened that day.
He encountered the victim walking home from a shop on Booth Street, Ravenswood, and struck him once to the side of the head.
The blow caused a 10-centimetre laceration extending to the skull and an underlying fracture.
The victim required neurosurgical treatment in Hobart, spent two days in intensive care, but has since recovered.
Justice Robert Pearce rejected Ruffels’ claim that he forgot he was holding the weapon when he swung.
“The jury must have rejected your account that the injury was inflicted in the manner you claimed and found that you deliberately struck [the victim] to the side of his head with the machete with a single direct forceful blow,” Justice Pearce said.
The court heard Ruffels was affected by methamphetamine at the time and had struggled with drug addiction for seven years following a motorcycle crash.
He has since completed an inpatient withdrawal program and remained drug-free.
Justice Pearce acknowledged Ruffels had reconciled with the victim and made progress in rehabilitation but said the crime was too serious for home detention.
“A serious crime is a wrong committed against the community as a whole,” he said.
“The sentence must balance your rehabilitation with the community expectation that crimes involving such serious violence will be punished.”
Ruffels was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment with one year suspended.
He must serve at least one year before becoming eligible for parole.
The machete was forfeited to the state.
