A teenager who lured a doctor outside a Tasmanian hospital and stabbed him in the heart has been sentenced to six years in prison.
The offender, identified only as “I” because he was 17 at the time, attacked the doctor at the North West Regional Hospital in Burnie on April 9, 2023.
The court heard the teenager had presented to the emergency department complaining of headaches, but became agitated when asked to undergo a neck scan.
After the doctor attempted to calm him down, the teenager asked him to follow him outside to look at something broken.
Once outside, he lunged at the doctor and stabbed him once in the chest.
The blade pierced the doctor’s heart wall and entered a chamber, causing life-threatening bleeding around the heart.
He was airlifted to Hobart for emergency open-heart surgery and spent four days in intensive care.
In his victim impact statement, the doctor said his breastbone had to be sawn open and, nine months later, still had not fully healed.
“The injury he suffered was life threatening. The surgery he had to endure was lengthy, risky and complicated,” Justice Tamara Jago said.
“It was a painful experience. He has been left badly scarred, which serves as a constant reminder of the trauma he endured.”
The doctor continues to experience chronic pain, nightmares, flashbacks and panic attacks.
“He no longer trusts people and is fearful of being alone,” Justice Jago said.
“To date, he has been unable to return to work and does not know if he will ever be able to return to work as a doctor – a career that he had worked incredibly hard to attain and which he thoroughly enjoyed.”
After the stabbing, police found the teenager in Burnie Park armed with a knife.
When an officer pointed OC spray at him, he lunged at her, saying: “I’ll launch at you c–t.”
Justice Jago described the offending, committed “for no reason”, as being “towards the highest end” of seriousness.
The court also heard the teenager had a traumatic childhood, including being removed from his parents’ care at 17 months due to abuse and neglect.
A forensic psychiatrist said the young man has since been diagnosed with schizophrenia and was likely in the early stages of the illness at the time of the attack.
He was also assessed as being in the “very high” range for risk of future violence.
Justice Jago sentenced the teenager to six years in prison, backdated to April 2023, with parole eligibility after four years.
