The ACT Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has discontinued an attempted murder charge against a 26-year-old Canberra man after a stabbing outside a pub on the Kingston Foreshore.
Hayden Todkill was also charged with intentionally causing grievous bodily harm after the altercation, which took place in March this year.
He had been committed to stand trial on both charges in the ACT Supreme Court, but the DPP has taken the unusual step of abandoning the case.
Court documents revealed Mr Todkill had been at a birthday event for a friend, on a party boat, before the group disembarked at Kingston Foreshore and continued drinking at the nearby venue The Dock.
Mr Todkill allegedly started arguing with one of the other partygoers at the bar, before telling him "let's go outside", the documents said.
Outside the two men began fighting, with Mr Todkill falling and hitting his head and other partygoers also becoming involved in the altercation.
During an earlier hearing, the ACT Magistrates Court viewed CCTV footage from nearby buildings, although there was no footage of the actual stabbing.
Mr Todkhill fled after the attack and had to be extradited back to the ACT from Nowra in New South Wales.
His lawyer Jacob Robertson today welcomed the decision to drop the case, saying Mr Todkill had been acting in self-defence after being surrounded.
"This was a sensible decision by the prosecution to decline to proceed further with the charge," Mr Robertson said.
"The incident and the circumstances leading up to it were captured on video footage, which clearly demonstrated that the actions of Mr Todkill were done in self-defence."
