Man sentenced for stabbing birthday party guest

Laine Clark | May 10, 2023

Moments after a heated argument, Gary Ian Draper stabbed a visitor as they tried to leave a birthday gathering.

The visitor had arrived for the birthday of Draper’s partner in Brisbane’s north in March 2022 when a fight erupted in the evening, a court was told.

Draper became upset after the visitor had been speaking to his partner, telling the guest to “shut the f*** up”.

They both started yelling and Draper began throwing punches, Brisbane District Court was told on Wednesday.

The visitor placed his thumb in Draper’s eye in a bid to push him off before the partner got in between them.

The partner started to push the visitor outside and Draper went into the house.

As the visitor tried to leave by going over the front fence, Draper came out holding a blade and lunged.

The visitor was stabbed in the upper chest, suffering a 4cm wound, and was able to walk to a nearby park before fainting.

The visitor spent the night in hospital for treatment.

A psychologist’s report said Draper showed symptoms of autism spectrum disorder which gave him deficits in social communication and typically leads to anger management issues.

Draper was diagnosed with ADHD in primary school and suffered from intellectual impairment, the court was told.

He has received a disability support pension since 2011.

Draper also had significant memory difficulties, the court was told.

His defence barrister said Draper had suffered bleeding and heavy bruising to his eye during the physical altercation that preceded the stabbing.

“That’s not said to excuse his conduct but rather to place the offending in context particularly given his … difficulty in regulating his emotions,” she said.

“Although it is reported that Mr Draper has poor logic he has been able to express a substantial amount of remorse for his offending.”

Draper wrote a letter of apology but it was taken before he boarded the bus to the District Court on Wednesday, the defence barrister said.

“Although we don’t have the benefit of that material I do have specific instructions that he wishes to convey his sincere apologies to the complainant for the physical and emotional harm that he caused,” she said.

Draper, 34, pleaded guilty to one count of wounding and was sentenced to 18 months in jail, suspended for two-and-a-half years, by Judge Geraldine Dann.

Judge Dann encouraged Draper to take up National Disability Insurance Scheme funding for psychological and anger management counselling.

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