FIFTEEN seconds was all it took for a troubled teenager to stab two chefs outside a brothel in a dark Newcastle laneway, but the random and violent attack has cost him almost five years of freedom.
It was only a matter of good fortune that Dominic Lagudi's jail sentence wasn't four times longer.
If the knife he plunged into one man's neck had been on a slightly different angle, or if police and an ambulance hadn't been patrolling close by, he could have been facing a much more serious charge.
"He is very lucky, he may not be so lucky next time if he conducts himself in such an unjustified manner," Judge Troy Anderson said during sentencing in Sydney Downing Centre District Court on Monday.
Lagudi had just turned 18 when he and his then-girlfriend were driven into the CBD just before 3.30am on January 19 last year.
They walked down a narrow lane connecting Hunter and King streets and sat down outside the Asian Star brothel.
It was just minutes later that two men, both Nepalese citizens working at Newcastle's Sapphire Indian Restaurant, arrived and tried to enter the establishment.
Lagudi was likely in a drug-induced psychosis when he noticed the two chefs and became paranoid they were taking photos of him on their phones.
He pulled out a small silver knife.
Lagudi approached the first victim and shoved him in the chest, punched him in the face, then stabbed him in the elbow causing a 12.5 centimetre cut to his forearm.
The chef had earlier called out to his friend for help and Lagudi then moved on the second victim, stabbing him in the neck.
Lagudi raised a jumper to his head in an attempt to cover himself up and ran away, hopping in a car boot before he was dropped at a park in New Lambton.
The two bleeding chefs hid in an alcove but were able to flag down passing police officers and paramedics on Hunter Street.
The ordeal was captured in a 90-second CCTV clip that was played to the court last month.
"As a matter of sheer good luck, police and an ambulance were driving in that area," Judge Anderson said.
Both men were taken to John Hunter Hospital, where the second victim had surgery for his serious neck wound and had to stay for 48 hours, while the first was treated for his elbow laceration and fit with a cast.
The court heard both victims had since made a full recovery.
Lagudi was arrested on March 1, 2023, and told police when questioned about the stabbing: "F*** knows, I was f***ed up."
He reported that he had been "abusing the meth" to the point that "it literally fried my brain".
Lagudi penned a letter to the court expressing his remorse and explaining how illegal drugs had been ruining his life.
"I'm very pleased to see he has taken full responsibility for his actions ... and wants to turn his life around," Judge Anderson said.
"He needs to stop using illicit substances before things, such as the offences before the court today, are repeated."
Specialist reports detailed Lagudi's troubled history of mental illness, drug addiction and his difficult childhood, which Judge Anderson found reduced his moral culpability.
Lagudi was sentenced to a total jail term of four years and 10 months, with two years and 10 months non-parole. He had pleaded guilty to charges of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and reckless wounding.
With time served, he will be eligible for release in January 2026.
Lagudi's girlfriend at the time pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to reckless wounding and was sentenced to a two-year community corrections order.
