A Sunshine man has been sentenced to 26 months in jail after stabbing a bikie at a St Albans wake.
Kane Luke Nugent, 22, pleaded guilty to recklessly causing injury to Steven Desic on August 29, 2012.
The County Court heard that Nugent got into an argument with another man about an outstanding debt.
Desic, believed to be a member of the Rebels Motorcycle Club, put himself between Nugent and the other man, who Nugent later described as a friend.
Nugent produced a knife and, after an exchange of heated words lunged at Desic.
Following a scuffle, in which both men fell to the ground, Desic suffered a stab wound to the groin that severed his femoral artery.
Nugent fled the scene, while Desic was attended to by two off-duty nurses and taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
Nugent later told police he had a Swiss army knife in a bum bag, but witnesses said they saw a kitchen knife.
He confessed to the crime after being arrested the following day but could not tell police where the knife was located.
Nugent has been in custody since July 4 last year after being arrested on an unrelated matter.
He failed to appear at a committal hearing about the stabbing on June 6 after being bailed on April 18. He eventually pleaded guilty at a directions hearing on September 6.
In sentencing Nugent on January 26, Judge James Parrish accepted Nugent did not attend the wake intending to use the knife.
After watching footage of the incident, he said he believed the victim had contributed to the situation by acting in a “reasonably aggressive manner” which “no doubt escalated the situation’’.
“I believe you have got some prospects for rehabilitation,” the judge said. “[However] the use of knives will not be tolerated in the community.
“Although this is serious enough, it could have been a lot worse..”
Nugent, who will be eligible for parole after 15 months, has already served 238 days in detention.
