Man sentenced to five years’ jail over Adelaide nightclub guard stabbing

A man who stabbed a security guard outside an Adelaide nightclub has been jailed for five years for a “vicious, senseless and dangerous” attack that could have killed the victim.

Ahmed Hussein Mohamedali, 27, was found guilty by a jury of aggravated causing harm with intent to cause harm.

He stabbed a security guard with a pair of scissors in October 2019 after he was asked to leave the Woolshed on Hindley nightclub in Adelaide’s CBD.

Mohamedali, who had been smoking cannabis near the nightclub’s exit, caused a five-centimetre laceration to the victim’s arm, puncturing muscle and an artery.

Judge Joanne Tracey said it was fortunate the security guard did not die from the injury.

“While [the victim’s] conduct may well have caused you to be angry, producing scissors and stabbing him in the arm can not be characterised as excessive self-defence,” she said.

“[He] was not armed and had not hit out at you; you made no threat or attempt to warn him to back away before producing the scissors.

Judge Tracey said Mohamedali spent 19 years of his life in a refugee camp in Sudan before moving to Australia in 2015.

She said Mohamedali was on a permanent resident visa but that his residency status was “somewhat uncertain”.

“The difficulties you have faced in your life do excite sympathy, however, the seriousness of your offending requires a sentence that deters your and others from offending in such a violent, senseless and dangerous way,” Judge Tracey said.

“You resorted to [scissors] as a weapon seemingly without hesitation.”

Mohamedali has a history of assaulting police, aggravated assault and damaging property.

Judge Tracey said Mohamedali had shown no remorse for the offending, sentencing him to five years in jail with a non-parole period of two years and 10 months.

Outside court, the victim said it “was a very fair decision”.