A drug-crazed menace repeatedly stabbed a Melbourne shopkeeper as she pleaded for help – and left her too terrified to ever return to her store.
Joseph Cassar, 49, repeatedly stabbed his 64-year old victim Thanh Lam with a kitchen knife while high on meth, in a random attack at the Port Melbourne convenience shop where she had worked at for more than 30 years.
Cassar had lived just around the corner from the inner Melbourne shop on Bay Street and had been a regular customer before he launched his senseless onslaught.
He had been due to stand trial this week over the September 17, 2023 attack, but changed his mind and pleaded guilty to attempted murder on the day it was to begin.
Cassar appeared in the Supreme Court of Victoria via videolink on Friday where Justice Andrew Tinney heard grim details of the stabbing.
Crown prosecutor Erin Ramsay told the court there was seemingly no reason for Cassar’s savagery against Ms Lam, who was captured on CCTV fighting for her life.
‘He was a regular customer, attending once or twice a week to buy cigarettes,’ she said.
‘Ms Lam described him as a very big, tall guy who would sometimes swear but was never rude to her.’
Joseph Cassar is arrested after stabbing a Port Melbourne shopkeeper
On the day of the attack Ms Lam had opened the store about 8.40am and served three or four customers before Cassar entered the shop.
Ms Lam had been seated behind the counter when Cassar jumped on top of it with a knife concealed behind his back.
The court heard Cassar grabbed Ms Lam by her hair before pushing her to the far end of the counter where she could not escape.
‘He raised the knife up high and plunged it into Ms Lam, who was cowering near the counter,’ Ms Ramsay said.
‘She used her hands to try and protect her head as Mr Cassar drew back the knife and stabbed her again and again.’
The court heard at one point Cassar’s knife got stuck in Ms Lam’s hand.
‘The footage shows that he stabbed her around seven times and that the entire attack lasted 43 seconds,’ Ms Ramsay said.
The court heard Ms Lam begged Cassar to take what he wanted and leave her unharmed.
The convenience shop where Cassar went on his mindless, bloody rampage
‘The money is here, the cigarettes are over there, and I’ll listen to you, I’ll listen to you,’ she pleaded.
But Cassar didn’t want cash or cigarettes. He only wanted to unleash his mindless violence.
‘Her hand was on the table and Mr Cassar stabbed her hand with the knife three times and cut her fingers,’ Ms Ramsay said.
‘He also cut her right hand twice. She says he then turned her body around and pushed her against the bench so that she was facing away from him.
‘He stabbed her in the back of the left side of her neck and the bottom part of her back.’
Sure she was about to die, Ms Lam screamed for help, but no-one came.
Bleeding out, Ms Lam managed to make a break for the door where she was helped by a man from a neighbouring shop.
The court heard Cassar droveto his home 700m away after the attack and dumped the knife, which has never been found.
The stabbing took place on busy Bay Street in Port Melbourne in broad daylight
When police came the next day, he denied any wrongdoing despite being caught on CCTV.
‘What are you doing? I have done nothing,’ he told police.
He later refused to answer questions.
In a heartbreaking victim impact statement, Ms Lam told the court she could no longer step foot anywhere near the shop she spent most of her life in.
‘Even though I’ve worked in this location for 30 years, I can no longer step into the store without reliving the incident and fearing for my life,’ she told the court.
She told the court the attack had left her with lifelong injuries.
‘I struggle to use my left hand. I lost sensation in my fingers and have difficulty performing daily activities including brushing my teeth, cooking and cleaning,’ she said.
‘I have lost weight because I have difficulty eating due to my hand. I also struggle with looking after my husband who is in palliative care.
‘I cannot spend quality time with my grandson because I do not have the strength to carry him. I have ongoing numbness in the back of my head and neck from the stabbing.’
Thanh Lam was never able to return to work after the senseless attack
Cassar’s barrister Jason Gullaci, SC said his client had no memory of carrying out the attack, but accepted he had attempted to murder Ms Lam.
He told the court his client had no relevant prior criminal history and had been dealing with a terrible drug addiction.
‘There’s no evidence of any animosity between (them) in the shop. He’d been attending there regularly,’ Mr Gullaci said.
The court heard Cassar made no attempt to conceal his identity while carrying out the attack.
‘He’s wearing a hoodie, the hoodie remains down,’ Mr Gullaci said.
‘He’s got no gloves to protect DNA or fingerprints being left, doesn’t wear a balaclava. He doesn’t make any demand in the store for anything.
‘He doesn’t ask for cash, doesn’t ask for cigarettes.’
Mr Gullaci said his client appeared to walk into the shop unsure about what his intentions were.
‘There is a level of uncertainty about what he’s actually going to do until the point where he does stab, and stab in a frenzy,’ he said.
He called on Justice Tinney to sentence Cassar to a jail period that included a longer than ordinary non-parole period.
The hearing comes just days after Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan announced tougher penalties for people who attack retail workers.
The maximum penalty for attempted murder in Victoria is 25 years’ imprisonment.
Justice Tinney will sentence Cassar next week.
