Gold Coast youth crimes and gangs: Knife crimes, new laws and GPS trackers
“I think it’s a fashion thing, it’s a part of the eshay culture.” Welcome to the chilling reality of youth gangs on the Gold Coast. LIFE INSIDE A YOUTH GANG
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“I THINK it’s a fashion thing, it’s a part of the eshay culture.”
Welcome to the chilling reality of youth gangs on the Gold Coast, one which is growing so steeply that even youth worker Leisa J Logan is alarmed by the new “fashion thing” – knives.
The Gold Coast has previously fought youth crime and youth gangs, linked with bikie clubs, by cracking down on gangs across the city through strict regulation by the Queensland Government.
A recent rise in youth criminals and Brisbane’s Southside Gang bragging about carrying knives, stealing cars and hooning in areas – including the Gold Coast – has led to the state government once again harshening laws in a bid to curb the criminal activity.
In a special investigation, the Bulletin looks inside youth gangs and how they continue to impact the city.
FULL LIST OF COAST YOUTH GANGS BELOW
CURRENT CLIMATE
In February, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk unveiled a reform to crack down on youth crime, which would give courts greater powers, allowing for recidivist high-risk offenders aged 16 and 17 to be fit with GPS trackers; create a presumption against bail; and seek assurance from parents and guardians that bail conditions would be met.
Also a part of the Palaszczuk Government’s new laws was for police to target knife crime in Gold Coast nightclubs by using metal detectors on the public.
The Premier told media following the announcement: “The community expects us to do more and that is exactly what we will do.”
“Families have been shattered and lives have been lost. And that is why today we are taking very strong action.”
According to Queensland Police statistics, in the 2018-2019 calendar year not one youth, aged 10-17, was charged with murder in Queensland.
In 2020 there were eight, six of them on the Gold Coast.
Gold Coast youth worker Logan said she has seen an increase in youth having knives through her work.
Currently running her program Fight 4 Youth out of Currumbin, which is aimed at helping struggling youth with boxing, dancing, counselling and other programs, Mr Logan has years of experience dealing with troubled teenagers on the Gold Coast.
Until the pandemic, she worked at the Brisbane Youth Detention Centre as a youth worker for five years and ran programs in schools previously to that.
Ms Logan said carrying knives isn’t just to harm others but has become a fashion and cultural statement.
“Carrying knives is such a huge thing now. For the kids I worked with in juvey and outside it’s the standard for a lot of them now,” she said.
“My opinion is that this is the current trend. If they had the chance to get their hands of other weapons, they probably would.
“I think it’s a fashion thing, it’s a part of the eshay culture.
“Kids see others carrying knives and think I want to do that and if they find themselves in an altercation that’s all they’ve got.”
Ms Logan said youth criminals she’s spoken to say committing crime can be addictive.
“The kids have explained to me it’s like an addiction when they get a hit of endorphins when they steal a car or drive fast or commit a crime,” she said.
“They need someone to focus on helping them break that addiction, rather than locking them up for longer.
“I think the metal detectors are a great idea.
“Education is also important but for some kids it won’t change anything.
“It’s like if a kid drives 200km and thinks it won’t hurt them until it’s too late.”
From the scary rise in knife crimes in recent years to the surge in gang numbers since the new millennium, the Bulletin’s special report looks at what the public, local politicians and police were saying that brought on the new Queensland Government’s crackdown.
PUBLIC RESPONSE
Juvenile crime squads hanging around areas of the Gold Coast had caused concern for local residents in some of the city’s suburbs.
Earlier this month some residents told the Bulletin they’re refusing to shop at the Miami One shopping centre after dark because they fear the youth that hang around the complex.
It was reported the youth allegedly broke a Japanese man’s arm outside the supermarket.
Across town at Budds Beach in Surfers Paradise, worried locals held a street meeting last month to discuss criminal activity in the area they believed were linked to abandoned houses.
Gold Coast businessman Will Hattingh told the Bulletin that police should be given greater powers over youth criminals.
In January a Highland Park resident caught two teens, believed to be linked to the Southside Gang, trying to break into his house.
Following the incident, the pair took their criminal activity down the road, where they stole a SUV and Ford Falcon XR8 from the garage of Mr Hattingh’s neighbour.
“There should be more serious consequences. If we look at what these guys are doing, most of their activity seems to be stealing cars and hooning and showing this off on social media,” Mr Hattingh told the Bulletin.
The mother of slain teen Jack Beasley told a committee at Novotel Surfers Paradise last week she wants transport hubs to be included in the random metal detector trial to reduce knife crime.
‘KICK IN THE GUTS’: FAMILY BANNED FROM SEEING ALLEGED KILLER IN COURT
Belinda Beasley lost her son Jack at the age of only 17, after a confrontation in the middle of Surfers Paradise on December 13, 2019.
Five teens aged from 15 to 18 have been charged with murder and have appeared in Southport Magistrates Court this week.
POLITICIANS
Mermaid Beach MP Ray Stevens accused the Labor government of ignoring the plight of residents in his electorate in late February, following the fears surrounding the Miami One shopping centre.
Mr Stevens told parliament: “The police advise me that 50 or so hardened youth criminals who are creating the problem — and they are aware of those young thugs — must be locked away from law-abiding society until their behaviour can be corrected. The police are aware and are working tirelessly for the community, but it is not their responsibility.”
MP Darren Taylor met with the administrators of the Budds Beach abandoned site, Deloitte, as well as local police, council officers and community representatives.
The meeting was held to work through options to clean up the Norfolk Ave site that residents had been complaining people were squatting at.
Prior to the meeting Cr Taylor said: “This issue is starting to raise its head everywhere. We need more police, we need more action. That’s the struggle.
“There’s two levels, there’s the justice system and what is happening there, which is a state issue. Then there’s how many officers are on the street.”
POLICE
Earlier this month Superintendent Rhys Wildman had a message for crooks thinking about carrying knives on the Gold Coast – just don’t do it.
“The messaging from us (the police) is anytime that a knife is being concealed in public, unlawfully, there is a high risk of either yourself or somebody else being injured,” he told the Bulletin.
In regards to the metal detector trial on the Gold Coast Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll told a radio station when the laws are passed the glitter strip can expect to be “wanded”.
“We are seeing a trend across the board, young children as young as 13 and 14 carrying knives in public places,” Ms Carroll told 4BC.
“This is telling young people, if you come in this space, expect to be wanded.
“We are looking forward to trialling this, and I think it will be hugely successful and really provide a feeling of safety when you go into a public place.”
HISTORY
Youth crime and gangs have been synonymous with the Gold Coast for close to two decades.
The rise of youth gangs emerged in the early 2000s, with rivals the Palmy Army, Southside Soldiers and the Gold Coast Brotherhood terrorising the south of the city.
By 2006 the gangs were starting to show their presence through graffiti tags, but they shot to public attention following an incident on Australia Day in 2009.
Teens from the gangs were alleged to be involved in the brawl that saw nearly 1000 teenagers on a rampage, fighting police and damaging property.
At the time Gold Coast police district superintendent Jim Keogh strongly denied rumours that the incident had been sparked by high school gangs who had called in other members by SMS message.
By the turn of the decade members of these gangs had grown older and some had “graduated” to bikie gangs.
More feeder youth gangs were started across the Gold Coast, including the Mexican Soldiers and the Red Devils.
More youth gangs started to emerge, particularly in the southern end of the city and the Tweed Shire, including D-Lux, BHQ, Keebra Krew, Dark Neo Soldiers and Coomicubs.
The rivalry between the Southside Soldiers and the Gold Coast Brotherhood continued to grow and the members were ordered to “bash on sight” any rival gang members.
It led to a fight between the gangs at a Burleigh surf shop in 2014.
That year – with Queensland cracking down on bikies and gangs under the VLAD laws – police raided the Southside Soldiers during a mass crackdown in Palm Beach and Currumbin.
The presence of youth gangs linked to bikies has reduced on the Gold Coast but the rise of an American subculture is causing concerns.
Gold Coast lawyer, Michael Gatenby linked his observation of a rise in knife related crimes to the eshay culture.
GOLD COAST YOUTH GANGS OVER THE YEARS
Palmy Army
The gang that was based in Palm Beach and is one of the most notorious the city has seen.
Borrowing their name from the peaceful surfing club, these teens were the opposite.
Terrorising neighbours with parties, fights and causing fights, the gang was well known on the Gold Coast.
The clubs tags of “4221” and “Palmy Army” were often seen graffitied in the south of the city.
Gold Coast Brotherhood
The recruiting base for the Nomads, the youth gang was one of the first to be established on the Gold Coast.
The gang isn’t known for owning motorbikes but they did meet at various premises around the Coolangatta/Palm Beach area before the VLAD laws.
The numbers ‘14’ and ‘732’ as the gang logos, which members often get tattooed on them.
Southside Soldiers
Originally a Currumbin based gang, the gang often started trouble with rivals the Gold Coast Brotherhood over a turf war in the early 2010s.
Another ‘baby bikie’ gang, the club had links to the Lone Wolf bikie gang.
The Coomicubs
The gang was the main one in the Tweed area in the 00s and early 2010s.
Along with D’Lux, indigenous-based group DNS (Dark Neo Soldjahs), surf and football linked BHQ (Bilambil Head Quarters), the gangs terrorised locals.
Controlling from Kingscliff to Coolangatta, the Coomicubs got their name from a Chinderah band.
The gang’s members have “C” tattoos on their bodies and the gang is a feeder to the Lone Wolves.
Soldiers of Islam
At the turn of the decade the gang started to increase in numbers.
Made up of mainly young Muslim males, the gang is a feeder gang for the Bandidos.
Also known as Sons of Islam, the members often have “SOI” tattooed on them.
Red Devils
The gang is known to breed the next generation of the Hells Angels.
Following in the footsteps of its father figure, members are known to own and ride motorbikes.
The logo is a red devil with flames coming out of the back.
Mexican Soldiers
Another feeder to the Bandidos, the Mexican Soldiers were originally based in the Broadbeach area.
One of its most notorious past members is Lionel Patea, who killed his former wife Tara Brown.
Lionel, his brother Nelson and cousin Aaron Crawford pleaded guilty to killing Gold Coast pool builder Greg Dufty in July 2015.
South Side Gang
The Brisbane gang, who try to outdo rival fellow city club the Northside Gang, share videos of criminal activity on social media.
Since early 2020, the Southside Gang have been linked to a number of stolen cars on the Gold Coast following the group of teens bragging about their antics on Instagram.
Originally published as Gold Coast youth crimes and gangs: Knife crimes, new laws and GPS trackers
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