Man accused of stabbing woman in neck on Melbourne tram faces court

In short:

A man has appeared in court after a woman was stabbed in the neck in an alleged random attack on a Melbourne tram yesterday.

A lawyer for Jahangir Sharifabadi, 37, has schizophrenia and needs to see a nurse.

What's next?

He will remain in custody until his next court appearance later this month.

A homeless man who allegedly stabbed a woman in the neck on a moving tram while out on bail suffers from schizophrenia, a court has heard.

Jahangir Sharifabadi, 37, allegedly lunged at a 51-year-old woman with a steak knife on the route 1 tram to South Melbourne about midday yesterday.

Screaming passengers alerted the driver, who brought the tram to a stop on Eastern Road, near Kingsway.

One witness told the ABC two other passengers on board the tram restrained Mr Sharifabadi until police swarmed the area and arrested him at gunpoint.

Other witnesses said the woman, who had been travelling with her dog, suffered a stab wound to her neck before she was taken to hospital.

Her injury was serious but not life-threatening.

Mr Sharifabadi, who was on bail when he allegedly stabbed the woman, spent last night in custody.

He fronted the Melbourne Magistrates Court this morning, charged with assault with a weapon, bail breaches, reckless conduct endangering serious injury, intentionally causing injury and stalking.

Flanked by custody officers as he sat in the dock, Mr Sharifabadi sat quietly with his arms crossed and looked down for much of the brief hearing as a Farsi interpreter translated the proceedings for him.

The court heard Mr Sharifabadi suffered from schizophrenia, with his lawyer requesting he be seen by a nurse and moved out of temporary custody and into the Melbourne Assessment Prison.

Mr Sharifabadi did not apply for bail and will return to court later this month.