A master’s student has appeared in court after she stabbed her boyfriend in a rage after discovering he had been texting his ex.
Postgraduate student at the University of Technology Sydney Jacinta Angel Ferraro is alleged to have attacked her boyfriend with two kitchen knives at his Parramatta home in Sydney’s west shortly after 7pm on June 9.
The alleged attack occurred after Ferraro searched his phone and found text messages between him and his ex-partner from two weeks earlier, High Court documents show.
“The suspect picked up two kitchen knives, a serrated bread knife with a 19cm blade and a paring knife with an 11cm blade,” police said.
‘The [man] ‘He put his hands up as the suspect came toward him with a knife in both hands.’
Police allege Ferraro held the knives up and attacked her boyfriend, causing deep cuts to his arm bone and pinky finger.
Also known as ‘Angel’, she then allegedly threw various objects at her boyfriend and threw a PlayStation 4 game console and an internet router over the balcony.
The alleged victim was taken to hospital by friends, where he underwent surgery.
Master student Jacinta Angel Ferraro (pictured) allegedly attacked her boyfriend with two kitchen knives
Hospital staff contacted police the next day, who searched the man’s ward and found dried blood on the floor and blood-stained knives.
Ferraro was arrested in Woollahra in Sydney’s east.
She was charged with wounding a person with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, assault with intent to cause actual bodily harm and willfully or recklessly destroying or damaging property.
All three charges are domestic violence crimes.
According to police, Ferraro, who has not entered a plea, stated she inflicted the injuries on her boyfriend as an act of self-defense.
However, she refused to elaborate further and did not want to participate in an interview.
After police and a local magistrate denied bail, it was granted by the High Court last week, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
In its written statement, the Crown opposed bail, arguing it would pose a “serious and unacceptable risk of harm to the community and to the complainant.”
Ferraro is also accused of throwing things at her boyfriend, including throwing his PlayStation 4 game console and an internet router over a balcony
“The applicant appears to show a tendency towards violent and aggressive behaviour,” the prosecutor told the court.
Ferraro’s lawyer Kon Papanicolaou, in accepting the prosecution’s case, said the friend’s injury “was not serious, namely a cut on the victim’s right little finger that caused a deep laceration.”
“On the applicant’s instructions, she locked herself in the bathroom and the victim tried to enter,” Mr Papanicolaou wrote.
‘This is confirmed by the fact that the bathroom door has been punched and there is a hole in the bathroom door… This is self-defense.’
Mr Papanicolaou also said that pre-existing mental health conditions could make a prison sentence inappropriate and that the long waits currently plaguing the justice system could make any period of pre-trial detention “a heavy burden”.
Ferraro has been diagnosed with a complex form of ADHD, anxiety disorder and bipolar disorder.
Judge Hament Dhanji granted Ferraro bail, but imposed strict conditions.
She must report to the police every day, surrender her passport, adhere to a curfew from 6pm to 9am while living with her mother, abstain from drugs and alcohol, and take out medical psychiatric health insurance.
Ferraro must also comply with a no-assault order issued against her, which prohibits her from contacting the alleged victim.
Jacinta Angel Ferraro was recently released on bail and will appear in court again later this month
Ferraro has not yet dropped any charges and will appear in court again on September 26.
Ferraro writes in her Instagram bio that she is pursuing a master’s degree in social entrepreneurship and not4profit.
Her most recent post, which shows Ferraro at a rave with electronic dance duo Showtek, was dated June 10, hours after the alleged attack.
She is also chair of the student-run UTS Events Society and has DJed at various events under the name Angelic Delight.
“I mentally detached myself from my emotions and focused solely on my love for music,” she wrote in a post earlier this year.