Man arrested over domestic violence-related stabbing at Sydney gym

SYDNEY: Australian police confirmed on Thursday that a 45-year-old man was arrested after a domestic violence-related stabbing seriously injured a woman at a gym in Sydney’s inner south.

Emergency services were called to a fitness facility on O’riordan Street in Alexandria at around 12:30 p.m. local time on Wednesday, following reports of an alleged stabbing.

Paramedics treated a 39-year-old woman in the car park of the gym before she was taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in a stable condition. Police believed that the pair involved were known to each other.

Following the incident, South Sydney Police Area Command Superintendent Rod Hart said at a press conference that the male offender used a “kitchen-style knife” to attack the victim before getting into a vehicle and fleeing.

“We believe they had been in the past — earlier this year — in a very short domestic relationship. So this is being treated as domestic violence-related,” said the officer.

At around 7:50 a.m. local time on Thursday, the 45-year-old man presented himself to Dee Why Police Station, where he was subsequently arrested and taken to Manly Police Station.

During an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Thursday morning, Premier of New South Wales (NSW) Chris Minns described the stabbing as a “horrifying and shocking attack.”

“It’s important to say that these events are not rare either, they are common, and the number and frequency of domestic violence offenses in NSW represents an absolute emergency in this state,” he told ABC Radio Sydney.

-Xinhua