A homeless Afghan immigrant has been refused bail after allegedly stabbing two women in separate street attacks in Melbourne on the weekend.
Raaz Alizada, 27, allegedly stabbed a 53-year-old woman in the neck from behind on Young Street in Frankston at about 1.15pm on Saturday, and ran off. The woman was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
At about 7.45am the next morning he alleged approached a 29-year-old Western Australian woman from behind as she was leaving a gym on Playne Street, and stabbed her with a 22cm kitchen knife.
Alizada allegedly stole the woman’s handbag and demanded her phone PIN before he was chased off. He was then arrested on Ross Smith Avenue East, but was deemed unfit to be interviewed.
The second alleged victim was also hospitalised with non-life threatening injuries.
He was charged with two counts of intentionally cause serious injury, armed robbery, possess controlled weapon and possess dangerous article, and appeared in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday where he asked to be deported, the Frankston Standard Leader reported.
Alizada, of no fixed address, rejected offers of Legal Aid, said he did not need a Farsi interpreter organised for the hearing, and asked the court to send him “back to Afghanistan” while applying for bail.
But Magistrate Simon Zebrowski refused bail on the grounds that Alizada was an unacceptable risk to the public, and told him he would need to stay in custody Australia until his case was concluded and any sentence given was served.
The court heard that Alizada’s first alleged victim felt a sharp pain after being stabbed in the back of the neck, and was given multiple stitches in Frankston Hospital. She then reported the incident to police.
Police allege he stabbed the second woman with a “large amount of force” after slowly running up to her, and then demanded her bag, rummaged through it, and demanded the PIN code, which she provided.
Alizada will reappear in court later in the year.
Header image: The scene of the second alleged stabbing (Google Street View).
