Irish man Paul Anthony Fox will be deported from Australia when he is released from custody, after having pleaded guilty to stabbing a friend in the heart last April.
Fox (24) stabbed Robert Emmet Corrigan, from Galbally, Co Tyrone in the early hours of Easter Sunday morning.
The South Australian Supreme Court heard Mr Corrigan would have died but for medical intervention after being rushed to hospital. He now lives with constant pain.
"I find it difficult to trust people now because this was a friend who stabbed me," Mr Corrigan said in a victim impact statement read out in court.
Fox, from Clonoe, Co Tyrone pleaded guilty to intentionally causing serious harm to Mr Corrigan, an offence aggravated by the use of a knife, on April 8th last.
Fox had applied for permanent residency in Australia, but his visa has been cancelled and he will be deported when released from custody.
The court heard the friends were involved in a confrontation in Hindley Street in Adelaide’s city centre earlier on the night of the attack.
Fox’s barrister, David Edwardson, told the court his client was armed with two knives when he went to the Adelaide home where Mr Corrigan lived with four other Irishmen. "This alcohol-fuelled incident between friends has ended in disaster," he said.
Mr Edwardson said Fox took the knives with him as he "didn't want to be in a position to be set upon by five people", but had intended only to ask about the fight in the city centre.
The pair began to fight at the house after Mr Corrigan punched Fox, and Fox then stabbed his friend once, the court heard.
Mr Corrigan said he had thought he was going to die and when he woke in hospital he was in unbearable pain. His victim impact statement said he has to take painkillers every day, has no money, has lost the physical strength for his work as a concreter, and cannot take part in activities such as swimming.
He is also unable to work as a topless barman due to his injuries.
"I used to be a topless barman, but now because of my scarring I don't think I can pursue that line of work," he said. "I am now more wary of people and aware how things can change in an instant."
Mr Edwardson said Fox moved to Australia in February 2010 and had been in Adelaide since August 2011. He had found work and a sponsor to help him gain permanent residency in Australia.
Fox was an outstanding Gaelic footballer and had a good, unremarkable upbringing without any previous convictions, Mr Edwardson said.
He said the stabbing was a one-off incident and out of character.
Fox was supported in court by family who had travelled from Northern Ireland.
He will be sentenced next week.
