A MAN who stabbed two intruders who turned off the power to his home and smashed their way inside during a domestic violence-related home invasion at Muswellbrook has narrowly avoided a jail term.
The man, 25, had represented himself and claimed he was acting in self-defence during a hearing in Muswellbrook Local Court in November. But he was found guilty of two counts of reckless wounding, as well as other domestic violence-related assaults and intimidation.
The man again represented himself on Tuesday, where he narrowly avoided a jail term, Magistrate Kevin Hockey instead ordering he serve an 18-month intensive corrections order and abstain from drugs and alcohol.
The court heard in November that the man had stabbed a 48-year-old woman and a 16-year-old boy, who were allegedly two of the three people who broke into his home in Dalwood Place about 10.20pm on July 8 this year.
Police allege it was the man's former partner, her brother and mother who broke into the house, while it was the brother and mother who were stabbed.
In a police interview, played in court in November, the man described being alerted by lights outside his home as he was trying to sleep.
He told investigators three people smashed their way inside, assaulted him and threw his phone to the ground while he was calling police for help.
"I thought it was life and death now," he said.
The man told police he grabbed a small knife during a scuffle in the kitchen, before he escaped outside to hide behind a nearby car.
As the group left the home and gathered near another vehicle, the man approached them and a second altercation began during which the woman was stabbed in the chest and the teenager suffered a knife wound to his leg.
CCTV footage played to the court in November showed the boy screaming "I've been stabbed".
The man, who claimed he was acting in self-defence, told police during the interview that the teenager was armed with a large pole and the woman had used a brick to break into the house.
The woman and boy were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and were both later charged with aggravated break and enter. They remain before the courts.
During a police interview, investigators said it appeared the man was the "victim" up until he set upon the group following his initial escape and at that point he had taken matters into his own hands.
And, ultimately, Magistrate Hockey found he was not acting in self-defence after the initial break-in and found him guilty on all counts.
