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A former Ballarat man who stabbed a security guard multiple times after he was ejected from a nightclub has avoided immediate jail. Joshua Carr-Bannam stabbed the 23-year-old security guard outside the Bluestone nightclub in the early hours of February 4, 2018. A police summary tendered to the Ballarat Magistrates Court states three crowd controllers ejected Carr-Bannam after he had earlier gained entry to the Mair Street nightclub by jumping a side fence. The 22-year-old, who was trying to regain entry to the nightclub, started to argue with the security guard outside the venue. “Having again been refused entry, the accused reached under his shirt with his left hand and removed a black handled knife from a scabbard which was secreted under his pants,” the summary says. “The accused then immediately stabbed the security guard in the back and rear of his right arm on three occasions” Carr-Bannam fled the scene on foot, running along Camp Street and into Field Street before police located him on the corner of Peel and Eastwood streets with the knife hiding in his sock. The summary states the victim was taken to Ballarat Health Services emergency department with two wounds measuring one and two centimetres. A 10-centimetre cut to his right upper arm required stitches. Carr-Bannam made full admissions to the stabbing the next day, telling police he was drunk but there was no reason why he used the knife. Carr-Bannam’s defence counsel on Wednesday urged the court to place him on a Community Corrections Order, given his early guilty plea, young age and steps taken towards alcohol rehabilitation. “This has really been a wake-up call for him and since this occurred he has shown a sense of maturity,” his barrister said. Magistrate Ron Saines said people who used a knife to stab an employee who was working to protect the community would receive a clear and firm response from the court. He said he was compelled by case law not to impose a jail sentence. Carr-Bannam was convicted and sentenced to a 24-month CCO with 200 hours of unpaid community work. He was banned from attending licensed venues for two years. He pleaded guilty to intentionally causing injury.

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