In short:
An Australian Federal Police employee has been charged with the attempted murder of his wife during a violent incident in Canberra.
The man allegedly attempted to strangle the woman “with force” before stabbing her in the arm with a 32-centimetre kitchen knife.
What’s next?
He will remain behind bars until his next court appearance later this month.
An Australian Federal Police employee has been charged with attempted murder, after he allegedly stabbed his wife with a kitchen knife during a violent altercation at their home.
Warning: This article contains details that may be distressing to some readers.
Police documents show the man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had reportedly been drinking with friends on the night of Friday July 5.
When the man returned home, the documents say, he allegedly argued with his wife about the behaviour of their teenage daughter.
He allegedly grabbed the woman’s neck and threatened to kill her, according to the documents.
The man, aged in his 40s, then punched his wife, who fell to the ground, and attempted to strangle her “with force”, police said.
Police allege the woman tried to defend herself by pushing her thumbs into the man’s eyes.
Their teenage daughter, who witnessed the incident, called triple-0 but the incident continued to escalate.
The documents allege the man then stabbed his wife with the 32-centimetre knife, which became stuck in her arm.
The man then allegedly tried to pull the knife from her arm.
The woman was later taken to hospital and required surgery for the knife to be removed.
Police officers also seized another two kitchen knives from the home, which they allege might have been used in the incident.
They said they also observed broken pieces of Lego over the blood-soaked floor of the home, from a large Lego castle that the man allegedly smashed during the incident.
Police interviewed the man early on Saturday morning and he was hospitalised for a medical assessment.
He faced the ACT Magistrates Court that same day, charged with intentionally inflicting grievous bodily harm and a family violence charge of aggravated assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
The attempted murder charge was added on Monday, with the man appearing before Magistrate Sean Richter via video link.
He will remain behind bars until his next appearance later this month.
ACT Policing released a statement about the charges on Saturday, saying they were “committed to transparency” and they would not be commenting further.
On Monday they said the man had been suspended from duty.