A WOMAN who witnessed her then boyfriend brutally stab two chefs in an unprovoked attack outside a Newcastle West brothel has avoided being sent back to jail after a magistrate found her assistance in helping him evade justice was minimal and she had since cleaned up her life.
Dominic Lagudi had turned 18 just two days before he stabbed the two Nepalese nationals, who were chefs at Newcastle's Sapphire Indian Restaurant, in Devonshire Street about 3.35am on January 19 last year.
One man was stabbed in the neck and could have died while the other man suffered a 12.5 centimetre laceration to his forearm.
Lagudi's girlfriend at the time, a 31-year-old mother who was studying to be a nurse before her "life went off the rails", witnessed the attack and "did nothing to report it to police".
The pair were arrested in March last year and both charged with two counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
The woman spent 49 days behind bars before she was granted conditional bail.
Prosecutors later dropped the most serious stabbing charges but the woman was expected to face a hearing in Newcastle Local Court on Tuesday into charges of concealing a serious indictable offence and possession of a pistol and ammunition.
Those charges were dropped and the woman, who is represented by barrister Paul Rosser, KC, and solicitor Lauren O'Brien, pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to reckless wounding.
Lagudi, his then girlfriend and another man had driven into Newcastle about 3.20am on January 19 and parked in King Street.
Lagudi and his then girlfriend then walked down Devonshire Street, a narrow laneway between Hunter and King Street, and sat down outside the Asian Star brothel.
Meanwhile, the two chefs had just gotten out of an Uber and walked down the laneway before trying to gain access to the brothel.
They were nearby when Lagudi suddenly pulled out a small silver knife and pushed one of the chefs to the chest.
He then punched the man in the face and when he backed away, Lagudi walked quickly towards him and stabbed him in the elbow.
Before being stabbed, the chef had called out to his friend for help and Lagudi then stabbed that man in the neck with the blade.
Lagudi then backed away, covered his face and ran. He got into the boot of the car before being dropped at a park in New Lambton. The woman did not get in the car with him.
Meanwhile, the two chefs were bleeding profusely and cowering in an alcove in the laneway.
Mr Rosser said the woman was motivated by a "misguided sense of loyalty" and what she did after the stabbing was "counsel him to do what he was probably going to do anyway".
He said she had not used drugs since her arrest, had spent seven weeks in jail before being granted bail and could be dealt with without a further period of imprisonment.
Magistrate John Chicken ordered the woman be placed on a two-year community corrections order, similar to a good behaviour bond, but offered a warning for the future.
"In all likelihood you saw a man stabbed in the neck and did nothing about reporting that to the police," Mr Chicken told the woman. "I understand that in your circumstances at the time that probably didn't even enter your head. "What likely entered your head was I've got to protect him because he is my man. "Make better choices in the future."
Lagudi is listed for sentence in Newcastle District Court in August.
