Teenager Nathan James Appleton-Young’s night of terror causes $30k in damage

A teenager has been jailed for running at his ex-girlfriend with a knife, spitting in the face of a police officer and terrorising two families in one night.

A teenager has been jailed for running at his ex-girlfriend with a knife while saying “it’s stabby, stabby time” and spitting in the face of a police officer.

Nathan James Appleton-Young, 19, terrorised two families and caused $30,000 of damage in one night.

The Deception Bay teenager’s crimes occurred after the breakdown of his relationship.

He used a stolen car to drive to the family home of his ex-girlfriend’s boyfriend in Coomera at 3am on March 2 last year, the Southport District Court was told.

He smashed the taillights of a car and threatened to burn the house down.

Southport court house. Picture: Brendan Radke.

At 4am, Appleton-Young drove to his ex-girlfriend’s house, where he smashed bottles and jumped on the bonnet of a car.

The court was told Appleton-Young drove off in the stolen car. The boyfriend followed him.

Appleton-Young later crashed into the boyfriend’s car and fled on foot.

The teenager went back to his ex-girlfriend’s house and hid in the bushes, waiting for his ex-girlfriend and her mother to walk past.

When she arrived, Appleton-Young ran at his ex-girlfriend armed with a hunting knife and said: “It’s stabby, stabby time.”

He hit the ex-girlfriend in the arm with the knife’s handle and was chased away.

After Appleton-Young was arrested, he spat in the face of a police officer who tried to stop him from strangling himself with a seatbelt.

Appleton-Young told the police officer he had AIDS, which was later found out to be untrue.

He pleaded guilty to a string of charges including serious assault with a circumstance of aggravation, common assault and unlawful use of a motor vehicle.

Appleton-Young ran at his ex-girlfriend armed with a hunting knife. Generic image.

In handing down her sentence, Judge Leanne Clare said Appleton-Young’s youth and early guilty pleas were the strongest factors in his favour.

But she said the 19-year-old must receive a sentence of imprisonment due to the seriousness of the offending and harm caused.

“Your demonstrated capacity to lose this degree of control, to be so vengeful, must be a matter of concern for the whole community,” Judge Clare said.

Appleton-Young broke down in tears when he was given a head sentence of 15 months’ imprisonment, to be suspended after four months for a period of three years.

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Originally published as Teenager Nathan James Appleton-Young’s night of terror causes $30k in damage