Baker hacked trainee's arm over apples

A baker almost severed the arm of a trainee during a "blind rage'', hacking with a meat cleaver during an argument over apples, a court has been told.

The Brisbane District Court was told Vietnamese national Hoe Thai Nguyen attacked his uncle, who he was training, with such force he severed through the largest bone in his foreman at a Maryborough bakery, 250km north of Brisbane, on April 4 last year.



The court was told Nguyen, who had been in Australia on a work visa since late 2007, attacked Cuong Ngoc Pham, aged in his 30s, for choosing the "wrong apples'' for use in pastries.

Nguyen, 31, was jailed for eight years after pleading guilty to one count of causing Pham grievous bodily harm during an intentional malicious act.