Man accused of stabbing brother-in-law multiple times at children's birthday party

A 36-year-old Macgregor man has been denied bail for allegedly stabbing his brother-in-law “four or five times” at a children’s birthday party.

According to court documents, Jaspreet Singh Mavi had been at a joint party hosted by the alleged male victim and a woman in Kambah on Sunday (10 March), where both he and the alleged victim had been drinking alcohol.

It’s alleged the pair began yelling at each other at around 10:35 pm, while it’s believed the female party host discovered a black-handled knife was missing from the kitchen.

Mr Mavi is accused of pulling out the missing knife during the argument, which had moved to the driveway of the home, allegedly saying, “I’m going to stab you” to his brother-in-law.

The alleged victim was taken into the home’s garage to stop the argument before the female host began closing its electric door.

“The defendant charged at [the alleged victim] as the door was closing and stabbed him four to five times in the lower right side of his abdomen,” the court documents alleged.

Bystanders tried using bedsheets to stop the bleeding while Mr Mavi allegedly fled in his vehicle.

Three calls were made to police about the alleged incident between 11:07 pm and 11:13 pm that night. Officers arrived on the scene at about 11:15 pm.

It’s alleged the stabbed man told police it was his brother-in-law who had attacked him.

The alleged victim was taken to Canberra Hospital in a critical condition and ended up having emergency surgery, where his spleen was removed and doctors found he had suffered “four penetrative stab wounds” to his stomach.

Mr Mavi handed himself in to Belconnen Police Station at about 12:40 am (Monday, 11 March) and allegedly told police he had stabbed his brother-in-law.

He was charged with aggravated intentionally inflicting grievous bodily harm.

Mr Mavi appeared before ACT Magistrates Court on Tuesday (12 March) when the prosecution opposed bail.

Prosecutor Trent Hickey argued that police were concerned that many witnesses were Mr Mavi’s family members and that, therefore, there was a risk he could interfere with their statements.

He was unsure how many witnesses the officers had already spoken with and who else they might wish to interview.

Mr Hickey also submitted there was “clearly some degree of premeditation [in the alleged offending] by taking the knife.”

Defence lawyer Patrick Said submitted bail should be granted given Mr Mavi’s lack of criminal history showed it was “very unlikely” he would re-offend or endanger any members of the community, “including his family members”.

“Normally, he’s a law-abiding citizen,” he submitted.

Mr Said argued remanding Mr Mavi in custody for an “unspecified time” was not in his “best interests” as he was the sole income provider for his family and it would hinder his prospects of accessing drug and alcohol support services.

He also highlighted that his client had turned himself in to the police, had been cooperative, and had expressed “extreme remorse” and concern about his brother-in-law’s condition.

Magistrate Alexandra Burt decided against bail as she was concerned about the serious nature of the allegations and that there appeared to be “some degree” of premeditation for the “largely unexplained” alleged crime.

She also pointed out that Mr Mavi’s level of intoxication at the time of his alleged offending wasn’t clear, nor if he had ongoing issues with alcohol.

Mr Mavi was remanded in custody to reappear in court on 5 April.

Intentionally inflicting grievous bodily harm (aggravated in a family violence context) carries a sentence of up to 25 years imprisonment.