A couple are being treated for critical injuries they suffered during a suspected home invasion in regional New South Wales, in an incident that saw the husband fight back with a firearm. The confrontation has left both the residents and the alleged intruder seriously hurt, and it has prompted a police investigation into exactly what unfolded inside the home.
Police say the victims, Diane and Keith Blessing, were at their home in the town of Tenterfield, in regional New South Wales near the border with Queensland, when the incident took place. According to authorities, a 34-year-old man broke into the property and stabbed the couple, turning what should have been an ordinary night at home into a violent and life-threatening attack.
Both Diane and Keith Blessing sustained critical injuries in the attack and are now recovering in a hospital on the Gold Coast, across the nearby Queensland border. The seriousness of their condition underscores the severity of the assault they endured before the situation was brought under control inside their own home.
During the confrontation, the husband fought back against the intruder using a firearm. As a result, the alleged attacker was shot in the chest and himself suffered critical injuries. He is now in hospital as well, being held under police guard while he recovers, as the investigation into the home invasion continues.
The man accused of breaking in has been charged with two counts of wounding with intent to murder over the attack on the couple. The charges reflect the gravity with which authorities are treating the case, even as the alleged offender remains in hospital under guard rather than in custody at a police or correctional facility for the time being.
Addressing the circumstances, police noted that a person is entitled to use reasonable force to defend themselves, while making clear that the full sequence of events would be examined. As one officer put it, the male had obviously received quite critical injuries up to that point, but all of these things will form part of the investigation now underway into the Tenterfield home invasion.