A YOUNG woman accused of murdering her father at Tenambit last year was acting out of "anger or frustration" and not in self-defence when she stabbed him twice in the chest, the blade piercing his heart, a jury has been told.
Maddison Hickson, 23, on Tuesday pleaded not guilty to murdering her father Michael Carroll, 50, at a home in Ronald Street at Tenambit on January 16 last year and faced the first day of an estimated three-week trial in NSW Supreme Court.
Ms Hickson does not deny stabbing her father during a "struggle" in the loungeroom but has raised self-defence, claiming she was protecting herself from Mr Carroll, a man with a long criminal history and a tendency to become violent, including using weapons.
Ms Hickson's friend, Taylah Renae McDonald, who the prosecution say moved the knife used to stab Mr Carroll into a dishwasher and deliberately misled investigators, has pleaded not guilty to being an accessory after the fact to murder and hindering the discovery of evidence.
During his opening address, Crown prosecutor Brian Costello said two men visited the home in Ronald Street about 7pm on January 16, where one of them argued with Mr Carroll.
It was only 15 seconds after they left that Ms Hickson ran outside, her father following her out before collapsing on the ground with two stab wounds to the heart.
"No one in the Crown case is going to be able to tell you precisely what happened at the time Michael Carroll was stabbed," Mr Costello said.
But Mr Costello said the jury would be asked to infer that Ms Hickson stabbed her father out of "anger or frustration" born out of an argument where her father had called her a "slut".
Mr Costello said the prosecution case was that Ms Hickson was armed, while her father was not and when she stabbed him she was intending to cause him at least grievous bodily harm.
Meanwhile, during his opening address, Public Defender Peter Krisenthal said the defence case had not changed from what Ms Hickson told family members and police the day her father died.
"She runs out of the premises... she says to [two men] 'get me away from him'," Mr Krisenthal said. "She sees her mother and she is distraught. She says: 'He attacked me. I think I stabbed my dad'."
Mr Krisenthal said later, when back at the house, Ms Hickson spoke to a police officer and told him "he tried to stab me".
Defence barrister Paul Rosser, KC, said Ms McDonald did not move the knife used to stab Mr Carroll, did nothing to assist Ms Hickson avoid prosecution and nothing to hinder the police investigation.
