Teenage attacker sentenced and released over stabbing in case of mistaken identity
A man who was 18 at the time he stabbed a Brisbane man with a knife in a case of mistaken identity was sentenced and released Thursday.
Police & Courts
Don't miss out on the headlines from Police & Courts. Followed categories will be added to My News.
An artist stabbed by a teenager in the centre of Brisbane says even though he survived the attack, a part of him died that night.
The victim was on the phone to his family in Bosnia at the time, and his parents believed they were listening to their son being murdered.
The teenager who attacked the man walked free from court on Thursday, despite pleading guilty to a string of serious offences.
Jayden Aoese Sale, then 18, thought a man he saw near the Wheel of Brisbane in South Bank on October 9, 2021, had attacked his teenage accomplice earlier that day.
The man he picked out was 51-year-old Bosnian-Australian sculptor Adis Elias Fejzic, who had one of his creations displayed in the Formal Gardens at Parliament House in Canberra in 2013.
But it was a case of mistaken identity as Dr Fejzic had never met the two teenagers before.
He was out enjoying a walk along the river, as he had done daily for 20 years.
Dr Fejzic was initially confronted by the teenage co-offender, who then yelled to Sale: “This is the guy who beat me.”
Dr Fejzic had survived the Bosnian Civil War and, after escaping Bosnia and coming to Australia, he vowed to avoid all conflict.
When the Brisbane man was confronted and accused, he tried to run away.
Sale chased Dr Fejzic and caught up with him, plunging a kitchen knife 15cm into Dr Fejzic’s hip.
Sale and his teenage accomplice then kicked Dr Fejzic on the ground.
The boys also threatened to kill several people who tried to intervene.
The duo then fled, but continued their path of destruction through South Bank, which included knocking a woman over who had her four-month-old baby in her arms.
Sale, now 20, pleaded guilty to six charges in the Brisbane District Court on Thursday, including malicious acts with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and multiple counts of assault.
Dr Fejzic wrote a statement, which was read aloud.
He spoke of his river walks being his “life, health, family time, and relaxation”.
But this is not the case anymore, his life has drastically changed since the attack.
“Most of the time I am outside of my home now, I am scanning people, reading their faces, looking at how they are moving, analysing all noises from a distance in case they mean trouble,” Dr Fejzic said.
“I’ve almost run from the pavement into oncoming traffic to escape somebody who looked suspicious to me several times.”
Dr Fejzic also spoke about his parents’ trauma, having listened to the attack through the phone about 10.15pm on that Saturday night.
“My parents witnessed my murder, that’s how it sounded over the phone and how they remember it. This is not completely incorrect, a part of me was really killed in South Bank that night,” he said.
Dr Fejzic no longer jokes or believes in life like he used to, according to his wife.
He also criticised the judicial system in his statement.
“I’m afraid the system cares more about its positive image, rather than a truly positive reality,” Dr Fejzic said.
In sentencing, Judge Alexander Horneman-Wren described Sale’s actions as “a rampage of violent offending”.
“Your offending has had a profound impact upon the man that you stabbed and his family more broadly,” he said.
“These were attacks on innocent people in public areas.”
Judge Horneman-Wren took into account Sale’s young age, demonstrated remorse, and his time in pre-sentence custody.
He sentenced Sale to five years’ prison, but ordered that be suspended after serving 14 months.
The teenager left the Brisbane District Court with his family on Thursday evening because he had already served 14 months behind bars in pre-sentence custody.
Sale will have that suspended prison term hanging over his head for five years, as well as a three-year probation order. Convictions were also recorded on all charges.
Crying, trembling dad misses Elizabeth, ‘but she’ll wake, God promised’
The emotional father of Elizabeth Struhs, on trial for her murder, says his biggest regret was forcing her daughter to take insulin for her type 1 diabetes.
‘Fried off his face’: 16yo sentenced for meth-fuelled crime spree while on bail
A 16-year-old boy has faced 41 charges in Childrens Court for a meth fuelled spree stealing cars, and driving dangerously admitting to police. See what was said in the first of cases the public can now see.