Canberra attempted murder trial over alleged machete attack abandoned
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Zachery Norton's trial has been abandoned a week before it was set to begin in the ACT Supreme Court. (ABC News: Callum Flinn)
In short:
An attempted murder trial has been abandoned after a Canberra man pleaded guilty to a lesser charge.
Zachery Norton, 32, is accused of seriously injuring a man with a machete in September 2024.
What's next?
Norton remains in custody, and is expected to seek bail ahead of sentencing.
The jury in a trial over an alleged attempted murder in Canberra's south has been dismissed after two of the three accused entered pleas to lesser charges, and the case against the third was dropped.
Zachery Norton, 32, was arrested in November of 2024 and accused of using a machete to sever three of his victim's fingers and cause multiple deep cuts and fractures during an altercation at a home in Wanniassa in September that year.
He was charged with attempted murder.
Kayla Scott, 29, and Paul New, 36, were later charged as accessories after the fact.
Kayla Scott, 29, is facing a new charge of assisting Zachery Norton to avoid apprehension. (ABC News: Harry Frost)
A jury had been selected, and a trial was set to begin this week, but at the eleventh hour the prosecution tendered a new agreed statement of facts.
Norton pleaded guilty to a new, lesser charge of recklessly inflicting grievous bodily harm.
Ms Scott also faces a new charge of assisting Norton to avoid apprehension — to which she has pleaded not guilty.
The charge against Mr New was dropped.
New trial date yet to be set
Justice Jon White dismissed the jury and thanked them for their time.
"I can understand why you would be disappointed and slightly confused by what has happened,"
he said.
"Sometimes the matters come to a head when parties have to present their respective cases."
Norton remains in custody, and his lawyer, James Sabharwal, told the court he would be seeking bail for his client ahead of sentencing.
Ms Scott remains on bail and will have to face another trial, with dates likely to be set later this year.
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