A student who used a knife to slash a man's chest and hands
during an argument over a karaoke bar tab has lost an appeal
against his sentence.
Qianli Ma, 28, was sentenced to 18 months' jail in August
after pleading guilty in the Brisbane District Court to one
count of unlawful wounding.
The sentence was suspended after Ma served three months.
During the hearing the court was told Ma got into an argument
with the victim outside a karaoke bar at Sunnybank in
Brisbane in January this year.
Ma said he was going to get money to pay his share of the
bill but instead returned with a knife which he used to cut
the victim's hands and chest. The victim required stitches to
the wounds.
The Chinese student took his case to the Court of Appeal in
Brisbane earlier this month, arguing language barriers had
caused him to plead guilty to a set of facts about the
incident to which he did not agree.
The court today rejected this argument, saying Ma had pleaded
guilty to a charge which did not require proof of any intent
for him to harm the victim.
The court also rejected Ma's arguments that the sentence was
manifestly excessive, finding it was in line with comparable
cases.
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