A man accused of stabbing a Service NSW worker on Friday will be detained for at least eight weeks, despite his lawyers’ attempts to have him transferred to a psychiatric facility.
Mahmoud Salhab, 37, did not appear at Parramatta Bail Court on Saturday morning for a mental health assessment.
A police officer at the Haymarket Service NSW branch was stabbed on Friday.Credit: Rhett Wyman
Salhab’s family was in court but did not sit in on the hearing.
Salhab’s lawyer, Javid Faiz, initially demanded that his client be transferred to a psychiatric facility. Magistrates determined there was insufficient evidence that this would happen and instead ordered a mental health assessment to be completed while in custody, acknowledging it would create a “time lag”.
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Faiz told the court he had been having difficulty obtaining instructions from his clients due to his mental health issues and that concerns raised by corrections officers at Surry Hills Police Station about managing Salhab outside of a psychiatric facility helped decide his case. Attendance at Saturday’s hearing was not permitted via video link from the television station.
Salhab is accused of stabbing a Service NSW employee in the lower back, chest and shoulder at the group’s Haymarket branch about 9.20am on Friday.
The 54-year-old male victim was He was taken to St Vincent’s Hospital in a critical but stable condition following surgery on Friday.
A Service NSW spokesman confirmed the man remained in hospital on Saturday and the organization was in regular contact with his family to monitor his condition.
