The man arrested for stabbing a woman in their Peechelba home has admitted he was trying to kill her.
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Charan Hannarong, 39, has been in custody since the November assault and appeared in Wangaratta Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday to plead guilty to attempted murder.
The Thai national was dropped at Wangaratta Hospital just after 6pm on November 21 with multiple stab wounds police say he inflicted on himself.
His victim, a 39-year-old Thai woman living at the same Wangaratta-Yarrawonga Road property, arrived at the hospital a short time later, also with stab wounds.
She recovered from her injuries, but chose not not attend court for the guilty plea.
Hannarong’s barrister James Fitzgerald did not reveal to the court how or why the stabbing occurred, just that his client would not contest the charge.
“It has resolved,” he said.
“Mr Hannarong will enter a plea to a single charge of attempted murder on the basis the other charges will be withdrawn.”
He will no longer face nine alternative offences, including intentionally causing serious injury.
Hannarong appeared in court wearing a green prison tracksuit with short cropped hair and a clean shaven face.
He required a Thai interpreter to stand with him in the dock in order to follow proceedings.
Magistrate Annabel Hawkins spoke slowly to allow time for her words to be translated.
The accused did not show any emotion during his appearance, nodding when given information and telling his interpreter “guilty” in Thai when asked how he pleaded.
“I understand I’m here at court,” the interpreter translated.
An intervention order had been in place since November to protect the victim from Hannarong, but Department of Public Prosecutions lawyer Andrew Grant said the guilty plea to attempted murder meant it could be withdrawn.
He did not apply for bail.
The case was adjourned for a directions hearing at Melbourne Supreme Court on October 19.