Violent teen who stabbed man in the stomach had convictions for other serious crimes

A Rockhampton teenager sent a school into lockdown, barricaded himself in a house and told police he wanted them to shoot him, waved a knife at a car full of females and stabbed a man who was dropping off fishing gear.

A young man who waved a knife and then pointed a gun at a car carrying five females at a Rockhampton intersection tailgated the vehicle after it drove off.

The man, now 18, was only 17 when he carried out this offence of going armed in public to cause fear, along with other crimes for which he was sentenced in Rockhampton District Court this week after pleading guilty to his charges.

Due to his age at the time of the offending, by law he cannot be named.

Crown prosecutor Claire Brtevnik said the defendant was driving with two passengers in his car in November 2020 and when they pulled up next to a Rav 4, carrying five females, the defendant pulled out a knife and waved it around at the Rav 4 victims.

She said one of the defendant’s passengers waved a knife around from the back of the car.

Ms Brtevnik said the defendant then pulled out a gel blaster which looked like a gun and pointed it at the Rav 4 occupants.

She said the victims did not know it wasn’t a real gun.

Ms Brtevnik said the defendant tailgated the Rav 4 after it drove away from the intersection.

The teen also damaged a CCTV camera at the BCC cinemas at Stockland Rockhampton by climbing on a handrail and ripping the camera off its mount.

In another incident, the teen stabbed a male in the stomach.

Judge Jeff Clarke said the teen had been living with a couple when the victim arrived to drop off fishing gear and the teen’s male housemate threatened the male victim with a gun.

He said the teen came out of the house armed with a knife and stabbed the man, who he knew through his mother, in the stomach.

Judge Clarke said the teen moved as if to stab the victim a second time but was unsuccessful.

He said the defendant then threatened to harm the victim if he hung around a mutual friend.

And these are not the only violent offences the teen has committed and been convicted for since he started appearing in court when he was 13 years old.

Ms Brtevnik said the teen had a prior conviction for going armed to cause fear when he sent a Central Queensland school into lockdown as he brandished a knife at the school and threatened to self harm.

The teen had convictions in 2020 for a siege with police where he ran away from them when they were trying to arrest him, told police he was going to get a gun and make them shoot him before barricading himself inside a house and placing a knife to his throat and threatening to self harm.

Two years prior, he was convicted of endangering property by fire after setting a toilet roll alight and burning part of a women’s toilet block in a public building.

Defence barrister Ross Lo Monaco said his client had more than 28 placements since he was eight-years-old when Child Safety removed him from his parent’s care.

Barrister Ross Lo Monaco.

He said Child Safety was currently trying to assist the defendant in finding accommodation and would then help him enrol in a TAFE course which would lead him to a mechanic’s apprenticeship.

Judge Clarke said the teen had a tendency to “lash out” with Child Safety officers and counsellors trying to teach him to “think before he acts”.

He said the defendant also had a tendency to blame others for his actions.

Judge Clarke said the teen had a “misguided loyalty” toward his family and mates.

He sentenced the teen to eight months detention, immediately suspended, and placed him on a conditional release order for three months.

No convictions were recorded.