Accused CBD stabber Lauren Darul ‘was referring to herself as the king of Australia’ during arrest, court told

“The victim is not supportive at all for the accused [to be] granted bail. She’s advised that she and her family would be extremely distressed knowing that [Darul] would be released back into the community to possibly further offend.”

Elliott said police arrested Darul at the homeless shelter where she had been staying about 90 minutes after the alleged attack.

Darul appeared agitated and confused during the arrest, Elliott said, and “was referring to herself as the king of Australia”.

The prosecution told the court Darul was subject to a combination of bail and summons for 19 outstanding matters at the time of the alleged stabbing, which suggested these measures were not preventing her from serious offending.

Mary Paterson from the Law and Advocacy Centre for Women told the court she stayed in touch with Darul to make sure she attended court hearings, and said that if she was granted bail, there would be health and housing support available for her.

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Elliott said staff at the homeless shelter had told police they would evict Dural if she was granted bail over safety concerns.

The prosecution argued their case was strong, given the alleged offending was captured by a CCTV camera and police body-worn camera. They said Dural had been found wearing the same clothes as the person in the CCTV footage and holding a knife.

“Between 2013 and 2023, the applicant … in my submission, we see the same repeat cycle of criminogenic offending occurring,” the prosecutor said.

“It’s clear the applicant has had access to multiple support services, and despite that, has demonstrated a lack of insight into her behaviour and has not had any salient impact on her offending ceasing.”

At one point during Tuesday’s hearing, Darul interjected to tell magistrate Timothy Bourke, “I want to clean up my life”. She said she didn’t plan to return to using drugs.

The court heard that if Darul was granted bail, she would be placed on an inpatient treatment order, which would compel an authorised psychiatrist to provide her with mental health treatment and to be placed into housing.

Elliott said this did not bring him comfort.

“From my experience of working with Victoria Police, those that are on inpatient treatment orders are known to abscond,” he said. “It’s not a secure facility, such as a correctional centre.”