An elderly man told police he was trying to cut his son-in-law’s throat and “kill the bastard” during a “brazen” stabbing at a busy train station.
Warren John Greenup was sentenced to eight years behind bars in Sydney Downing Centre District Court on Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to wounding with intent to murder.
The 74-year-old admitted he was motivated to unleash the “persistent attack” on his son-in-law Cameron Parkin as revenge for alleged acts of domestic abuse against his daughter.
He was caught on CCTV camera as he approached Mr Parkin in Sydney’s Central Railway Station at 2pm on December 4, 2021.
The video footage shows the elderly man withdrawing a knife from his purple canvas bag and stabbing the younger man in the back, right between his shoulder blades.
As Mr Parkin turned around in surprise, Greenup stabbed him in the back a second time.
He swung the knife at Mr Parkin’s chest, but the surveillance footage shows that the younger man pushed him back and punched him in the face three times.
Greenup moved back towards the victim as members of the public took notice of the knife and started to yell.
Mr Parkin ran through the concourse screaming “Help me, I’ve been stabbed” as his father-in-law pursued him with the knife in his hand.
When police arrived at the bloody scene, Greenup told them frankly that he had been planning to stab his son-in-law “for a while”.
“He’s been a real c**t to my daughter,” the court heard he told officers.
“I didn’t do what I came out to do. I wanted to kill the bastard.”
The 74-year-old admitted he had planned to surprise his son-in-law and slit his throat, but the victim had run away.
Judge Warwick Hunt said Greenup had been “seeking retribution” for Mr Parkin’s alleged acts of domestic violence against his daughter.
He had heard from his daughter about the “repeated and lengthy abuse” she suffered at the hands of Mr Parkin and took it upon himself to commit the “flagrant act of vigilantism”.
The judge found there was “some degree of provocation”, but Greenup had overreacted and not considered the range of other options available to him.
Medical reports tendered to the court suggested “the level of over-reaction” could be attributed to the elderly man’s depression, which “made a material contribution” to his murder attempt.
The court was told his decision-making processes were affected by his mental illness and he considered stabbing his son-in-law was “an attempt to protect his daughter”.
“The fact that he had no remorse for that and continues to blame the victim makes it impossible to consider he has good prospects of rehabilitation,” Judge Hunt opined.
He was similarly unable to find that the 74-year-old was unlikely to reoffend after concluding it was possible Greenup would seek revenge for the time he spent behind bars.
The judge noted the bloody and “brazen attack” happened in the middle of the day “in close proximity” to a number of “disturbed” passers-by at the busy Sydney railway station.
Mr Parkin suffered lacerations during the “highly traumatic event” but “none of the injuries were actually life threatening”, the court was told. He spent three days in hospital.
The court was told that the murder attempt was an aberrant blemish on an otherwise spotless criminal record for Greenup, who had “otherwise led a blameless life”.
He was sentenced to a minimum of four years and nine months behind bars and will be eligible for release on September 3, 2026.
The 74-year-old, who was dressed in a grey suit, blew kisses to his family as he was led out of the courtroom to return to his jail cell.
His wife and daughter wiped away tears and hugged each other after the verdict was delivered.
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