Father of two Jake Wayne Peter Purcell tells police ‘I should have killed him’ after double South Bank stabbing

A father-of-two who confessed to stabbing two security guards at a supermarket at Brisbane’s South Bank had become bizarrely agitated just minutes prior to the frenzied attack.

A father-of-two who stabbed two security guards in South Bank told police afterwards “I should have just killed him” in reference to his victims, a court has heard.

The attacker, who has a “significant” criminal history, can immediately apply to be released from prison despite pleading guilty on Wednesday and being handed a jail term.

Jake Wayne Peter Purcell, 29, admitted to the double stabbing at the Southpoint shopping and dining precinct on Grey Street in South Bank on June 7, 2023.

Jake Purcell with girlfriend Tiahna Wiles Picture: Supplied

He pleaded guilty in the Brisbane District Court on Wednesday to two counts of wounding.

Purcell went to the precinct around 3.45pm with his girlfriend - who spoke outside court last year and said the pair were on a date at the time.

The court heard Purcell went to Woolworths for cigarettes.

“You became agitated and belligerent after they didn’t sell your preferred brand,” Judge Terry Gardiner said during Wednesday’s sentencing hearing.

The court heard Purcell was initially confronted by one security guard, who he told to “f*** off”, before punching a Woolworths sign on his way out of the supermarket.

A second security guard also confronted Purcell and they escorted him to the outside escalators which lead up to South Bank train station.

Blood on the floor at the scene in South Bank. Picture: 9 News Brisbane

Crown prosecutor Stephen Muir said Purcell then pulled a knife from his shorts and stabbed one security guard in the torso near his armpit, inflicting a 5cm penetrating wound.

“It is a matter of chance that the stab wound to the torso [of one security guard] didn’t result in a more serious injury … it only required sutures,” Mr Muir said.

The court heard Purcell also stabbed the second security guard on the right forearm, inflicting a 3cm wound.

Mr Muir said Purcell was arrested by police shortly afterwards.

“There is an obvious lack of cooperation and troubling remorselessness demonstrated by the defendant, most aptly by his comment that ‘I should have just killed him’,” he said.

Mr Muir said Purcell had a nine-page criminal history which showed “a continued disdain and disregard for court orders”.

The scene of the stabbing at South Bank station. Picture: 9 News Brisbane

The history included forcing his way into his ex-girlfriend’s home with an accomplice while armed and threatening her and her new boyfriend while there were young children present, and separately being involved in a standoff with police while inside a home.

Mr Muir said Purcell was on parole at the time of the South Bank stabbings and asked for a four-year prison sentence.

Defence barrister Dominic Nguyen asked Judge Gardiner to consider a three-year jail sentence with immediate parole eligibility.

“His poison is illicit drugs … he also has self-reported schizophrenia and self-harm,” Mr Nguyen told the court.

“Your Honour will see from court reports there are clear mental health issues.”

In sentencing, Judge Gardiner said public knife crime needed to be condemned and highlighted Purcell’s “significant criminal history”.

But he also noted Purcell’s mental health issues, his 12 months spent in pre-sentence custody, and his rehabilitation and counselling efforts made while behind bars.

Purcell was handed a three-and-a-half year prison sentence, but Judge Gardiner ordered he be immediately eligible to apply to the Parole Board for release.