Poppy Allen: Behind Bundaberg High School student’s shock assault on teen
Young victim reveals she has ongoing nightmares after she was stabbed in the breast at a Kingaroy park.
Police & Courts
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An 18-year-old high school student has narrowly avoided spending time in a jail cell after stabbing another girl at the Kingaroy skatepark.
Bundaberg High School student Poppy Allen faced Kingaroy District Court for sentencing over the terrifying incident that left her victim needing stitches and suffering ongoing nightmares.
The court heard there was “animosity” between the pair before the brutal attack.
On December 28, 2020, the pair came to blows in the Kingaroy McDonald’s and Allen told the victim “I’m going to stab you”.
The altercation then moved to the Kingaroy skatepark, where Allen put her hand in her shorts, waited for a period of time and then ran at the victim and stabbed her in the chest with a knife before fleeing.
The teenage victim was taken to hospital with a 2.5cm wound below her left breast, which required stitches.
Barrister James Benjamin told the court his client had since moved to Bundaberg.
He said she had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and ADHD and had been medicated for her conditions since the attack.
She is now attending Bundaberg State High School as a special education student, as well as working two days a week in a local cafe.
Mr Benjamin noted Allen had moved out of her mother's home at the age of 16, and at the time of the stabbing had been homeless and had suffered a miscarriage just prior to the incident.
Judge Orazio Rinaudo took into account her early plea of guilty, as well as her steps to rehabilitation, but noted the wounding charge was serious and Allen had not been honest in her interview with police.
“This is serious offending … and is exacerbated by the fact that you fled and you've provided a false and self-serving account to police,” Judge Rinaudo said.
Allen was sentenced to 18 months’ jail, which was wholly suspended for three years.
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