Man who attempted to kill stranger in Brisbane CBD loses court appeal

A man who attempted to kill a stranger sleeping rough in the Brisbane CBD by stabbing him has lost his appeal.

Steven Cribb was sleeping rough in Brisbane’s Queen St Mall when he was attacked. File picture: David Clark

A man who attempted to kill a stranger sleeping rough in the Brisbane CBD by stabbing him has lost his appeal.

Anthony Daniel Rajek, 21 at the time, was found guilty of the attempted murder Steven Cribb in the Queen St Mall on January 16, 2022, following a two-day trial in November 2023.

He was sentenced to 13 years and 6 months jail.

Rajek appealed on the basis the jury verdict “should be set aside as it is unreasonable and cannot be supported having regard to the evidence.”

His lawyer submitted that the evidence in the Crown case was not capable of excluding the reasonable hypothesis that the appellant had held an intention to do grievous bodily harm, but not to kill.

However the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal on Tuesday.

“As the appellant well knew, he had struck the complainant in the vulnerable neck area with real force; the knife blade had pierced the skin; and it had gone a considerable distance into the complainant’s neck,” the appeal decision said.

“ It was not, of course, necessary that the appellant have killed the complainant in order to have had an intention to kill him.”

Originally published as Man who attempted to kill stranger in Brisbane CBD loses court appeal