18 July 2024

UPDATED: Police allege sword-wielding man attacked screaming woman

| Albert McKnight
rear of police car

A 46-year-old man has been handed charges that include assault over an alleged incident in Scullin. Photo: Claire Fenwicke.

UPDATE, 12:30 pm: The man accused of attacking a woman while wielding a sword has made no application for bail and remains in hospital.

The 46-year-old was not formally charged and appeared in court over the phone when his matter was briefly heard in the ACT Magistrate Court on Thursday (18 July).

His lawyer, Legal Aid’s Sarah Higgs, said he was in the Canberra Hospital and would not make a bail application.

Special Magistrate Marcus Hassall adjourned the matter to 9 August.

THURSDAY: A man has been arrested and accused of attacking a woman while he was wielding a sword.

ACT Policing said officers responded to reports of a disturbance at a home in Scullin at about 11:20 pm on Wednesday night (17 July).

They heard a woman screaming when they arrived, so they entered the residence.

Inside, the officers allegedly saw a man holding a sword while standing in a doorway, preventing a woman from leaving.

The woman reportedly had a wound to her chin.

It is alleged the officers told the man to drop the sword, which he did before he was arrested.

READ ALSO Two hospitalised after alleged assault outside Tuggeranong church

“ACT Ambulance Service paramedics attended the location and provided treatment to both the woman and the man,” a police spokesperson said.

The 46-year-old man from Scullin was charged with assault, possessing an offensive weapon with intent and forcible confinement.

He is expected to face the ACT Magistrates Court this week.

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