COREY Cox - accused of attacking a man with a knife in a garage at Hawks Nest - has pleaded not guilty by reason of mental illness and will face a trial in Newcastle District Court.
Mr Cox, 30, appeared in court via audio visual link from the Metropolitan Reception and Remand Centre on Thursday and pleaded not guilty to a charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Public Defender Lizzie McLaughlin told Judge Tim Gartelmann that the central issue at the three-day judge-alone trial would be Mr Cox's mental state around the time he is accused of stabbing a 37-year-old man four times in his left arm and left leg.
Emergency services say they were called to the garage of a home in Mirreen Street about midday on October 5 last year and found the 37-year-old suffering a number of serious wounds.
He was taken to John Hunter Hospital and underwent surgery. Mr Cox was arrested at the scene, charged and has since remained behind bars. Police say a kitchen knife was seized at the scene.
Mr Cox's three-day judge-alone trial is scheduled to begin on February 8 next year and will focus on competing psychiatric evidence relating to his mental state.
