Attempted murderer Flynn Donohue convicted after slitting host’s throat at house party

Flynn Crowther Donohue was sentenced to more than 13 years in prison by the ACT Supreme Court. Photo: Michelle Krol.

CONTENT WARNING: This article contains graphic content.

A teenager laughed as he slit the throat of a person he had just met after being invited to a house party, and later launched a brutal attack on a fellow inmate at Canberra prison.

Flynn Crowther Donohue, a now 19-year-old from Reid, was arrested last year and his crimes could be revealed when the ACT Supreme Court published details of his sentence late last week.

He was jailed for approximately 13 and a half years in August 2024, with a non-parole period of six years.

On July 16, 2023, he had recently turned 18 when he met a couple who invited him back to their home in Narrabundah to have dinner, drink alcohol and smoke marijuana together.

Donohue had been relaxed and friendly to his hosts when they met him, but over the course of the evening he began yelling, behaving sexually toward the female host, yelling at the male host, and punching holes in the wall of their home hit.

The couple tried to get him to leave and he eventually agreed. But when the man sat down to roll a cigarette, Donohue approached him from behind, grabbed his hair and held a knife to his neck before slitting his throat.

“The perpetrator said nothing and laughed and smiled,” Judge David Mossop said.

Donohue left while the woman “plugged” the hole in the man’s throat with her fingers because he was bleeding profusely, and called an ambulance.

He was taken to Canberra Hospital where he underwent life-saving emergency surgery requiring eight units of blood and multiple units of blood products to save his life. He was hospitalized for seven days.

Meanwhile, after Donohue left, he took the bus to McDonald’s Manuka, where he tried twice to buy something in vain. He was arrested later that day.

Then, on December 13, 2023, Donohue was an inmate at the Alexander Maconochie Center (AMC) when he became hostile toward another inmate when he said, “Thank you, boss.”

The inmate told a corrections officer that it looked like Donohue wanted to fight him, but when the officer asked Donohue what happened, he said, “There’s nothing in it, chief, don’t worry.”

Flynn Crowther Donohue repeatedly attacked an inmate at the Alexander Maconochie Center. Photo: File.

But that afternoon, Donohue entered the prisoner’s cell and began asking why he had “snitched” on him before pulling out a sharp wooden skewer.

“I’m not letting you go,” Donohue said.

He stabbed the prisoner repeatedly in the shoulder, arm, neck, head, back and buttocks before the prisoner could run away covered in blood.

“There was a trail of blood coming from his cell,” Judge Mossop said.

The inmate suffered 38 stab wounds or abrasions, including six wounds to the head and face, 11 wounds to the neck and a broken cheekbone.

When corrections officers searched Donohue’s cell, they discovered that the point appeared to have been made from a broken tennis racket handle.

In a phone call from AMC to his mother, he said he stabbed the inmate because he was a “dog.”

Judge Mossop said Donohue had never worked, had limited family support and was in a form of social housing before being taken into custody.

“Since being taken into custody on the current charges, he has spent periods in segregation due to violent behavior and attitudes,” the judge said.

“For someone so young, the evidence indicates that the perpetrator has a dangerous tendency to resort to violence.

“That appears to be a deeply ingrained part of his personality structure, as he has difficulty with impulsivity and emotional regulation, combined with significant levels of fear and anxiety. It is a dangerous combination.”

However, he did take Donohue’s youth into account.

Donohue pleaded guilty to and was convicted of attempted murder and intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm.

He has been in custody since his arrest in July 2023. Because his sentence was retroactive due to the time he served, he could be released from prison in August 2029.

Judge Mossop said he was given a less than usual non-parole period, partly because he was only just old enough to commit offenses and be sentenced as an adult.