A woman accused of randomly stabbing another who was walking to her job on a city street has failed in a bid for freedom.

Lauren Darul had sought bail after she was charged with recklessly and intentionally causing injury, and committing an offence while on bail, for allegedly stabbing Wan Lai as she walked to work in central Melbourne last month.

On Wednesday, Deputy Chief Magistrate Timothy Bourke denied the bid, referencing Darul’s history of failing to comply with her previous conditions.

“She has a history of being elusive and difficult to engage,” he said.

Bourke said Darul had previously faced 16 arrest warrants for failing to answer bail or appear on bail.

She had nine prior guilty findings of failing to appear on bail since 2022 and eight findings of guilt for committing an indictable offence while on bail.

“The offending is serious and [on] a lot of the evidence before me, the applicant’s prior convictions will carry a jail term if convicted,” Bourke said.

Lai was walking on a footpath in Melbourne’s CBD about 7.35am on October 2 when Darul allegedly ran up from behind and stabbed her in the upper body, Constable Damian Elliott told the court on Tuesday.

Emergency services arrived to find a distressed Lai, who was taken to hospital with a punctured right lung and bleeding around the lung.

Darul, 32, was arrested 90 minutes later after officers tracked her down at her housing provider Unison, where she revealed a 10-centimetre silver kitchen knife allegedly used in the attack.

Lai has been discharged and her health is improving. But she has moved because of the ongoing psychological trauma from living near where she was allegedly stabbed.

The court was told that Unison had issued Darul with an eviction notice if she was granted bail, citing the risk of danger to community, other tenants and staff.

The Crown prosecutor had opposed bail, citing an unacceptable risk to the community if Darul was released and her history of alleged bail breaches.

Darul’s lawyer argued that services were available to support her if she was released on bail to a hospital in-patient facility, which she said could ameliorate the risk of reoffending.

Darul will return to the court on January 20.

-AAP