A man has been charged with murder after allegedly stabbing another man within minutes of arriving at a Gold Coast pub.
According to police, a 26-year-old man and 30-year-old woman, believed to be his girlfriend, arrived at McGuire’s RQ’s Tavern at Robina on Thursday night and proceeded straight to the smoking area, where arguments commenced “almost directly” and a fight began.
A regular at the tavern, Dylan McPadden, also 26, was having a drink with a couple of friends. He and the second man got into an altercation, where it’s said “punches were thrown” before McPadden sustained a stab wound about an inch wide to the chest.
Emergency services were called to the tavern at 10.15pm, and staff helped how they could until paramedics arrived and the Nerang man was taken to Gold Coast University Hospital. He is said to have died around 11pm.
The alleged assailant fled in a red Nissan Navara ute before officers arrived, in the company of the woman. There were few witnesses, as it was close to closing time.
It’s understood the man was already known to police and although he had no fixed address, the couple had checked into a room at the Mermaid Beach motel earlier that day. Investigations led detectives to the address, where he was taken into custody about 2am.
Searching the premises, police report seizing multiple knives consistent with those typically found in a motel room, which will be forensically examined.
During a press conference on Friday morning, Detective Inspector Mark Proctor explained officers did not know what sparked the incident, or whether or not the two men were known to each other. The woman is assisting with inquiries.
The man was charged with murder and will face Southport Magistrates Court.
“It’s too easy to lose your life over something that may have just been a minor altercation until someone produces a knife,” said Detective Proctor.
“That’s what knife crime does; it wrecks lives and it will wreck the suspect’s life as well.”
