A dad who threw a knife that inflicted a significant wound in his son's back says living with the mentally ill boy has been "a nightmare".
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Springdale Heights man, who cannot be identified, told Albury Local Court on Tuesday that the incident on March 16 was "an accident, your honour".
He said he was cleaning-up the kitchen when he waved the knife about as he demanded his son stop throwing things around.
IN OTHER NEWS:
But because his hands were wet and soapy, the knife flew out of his grasp, hitting the wall before ricocheting and striking his son in the back.
The boy required nine sutures to a wound measuring six centimetres long and two centimetres wide.
"He's got schizophrenia, depression, anger issues as well," the man said in court.
"Yes, it's a nightmare living at home with him.
"I had the knife in my hand, he was carrying on.
"I was waving the knife as if to say 'stop doing it' and it slipped out and hit the wall and hit him."
Magistrate Richard Funston asked the man, 44, who previously pleaded guilty to reckless wounding, whether he too had mental health issues.
"I'm taking anti-depressants," he replied.
"I was seeing a counsellor for a while, she said it wasn't going too bad."
But various issues had led to a relapse and his son, too, wasn't coping, he said.
"He's a bit stressed about what's going to happen to me, about what's going to happen to him if I'm not back at home."
Mr Funston immediately assured the man he was not going to jail, even with him already being on an intensive corrections order for a conviction on two counts of dangerous driving occasioning death over a fatal crash in 2015.
On Tuesday he was sentenced to an 18-month community corrections order.
