Former National Rugby League (NRL) player Michael Lichaa 'almost died' after slashing himself on a window he punched when he saw his then-girlfriend allegedly performing oral sex on a team-mate.
That's what a court heard on Friday when Lichaa, 29, described the alleged events that led to him being charged with domestic violence offences. Lichaa was engaged to Kara Childerhouse in February 2021 when he woke up in the early hours following a day of heavy drinking and said he witnessed her cheating in his garden.
“I couldn’t get the image of my fiancee performing oral sex on my best friend out of my mind,” Lichaa told the court on Friday. One witness previously told the court they heard a man say "I’m going to f*****g kill her" on the night.
The former hooker flew into a rage, badly cutting his arm while withdrawing it from a front-door window he had smashed. Lichaa's father, Joe, 'emotionally told the court he feared his son was going to lose his life' after losing two-and-a-half pints of blood.
The court heard Lichaa was prevented from registering as a player in the wake of his injuries, and he has since retired from rugby league. The former Lebanon international played more than 100 NRL games, debuting with the Cronulla Sharks before spending five years with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.
When asked about claims that Lichaa had assaulted Childerhouse, former team-mate Elliott said he 'disagreed'. The accused was acquitted on all charges when former fiancee Childerhouse declined to testify against him.
It's understood Childerhouse—who is pregnant—was 'worried about the stress of reliving the incident', meaning all previous testimony was ignored. Elliott was suspended in August 2021 when he and women's league player Millie Boyle were found in the men's toilet of a Gold Coast restaurant—though the pair are still in a relationship.
Police body cameras captured footage of Lichaa's residence on the night in question, which showed pools of blood on his countertops. It's reported one officer can be heard referring to the scene as a "bloodfest."
Lichaa—who has since become engaged to someone else—told NCA NewsWire outside court that he was "glad the truth finally came out; I was very confident in the truth the whole time. But I just want to put it all behind me now and move on with my life and happy days ahead.”
