NT man Lochlan Bukulaptji sentenced for attempted rape in Karama

‘This is the worst example of attempted sexual intercourse without consent that I have encountered’: A Judge has sentenced a young man who bashed a 17 year-old girl in Karama before attempting to rape her.

Lochlan Bukulaptji was sentenced at the NT Supreme Court this week. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

A Nhulunbuy-born man has been put behind bars for his after-dark assault on two separate victims near the Karama Shopping Centre, which included him attempting to rape a 17 year-old girl.

On Wednesday, Lochlan Bukulaptji was sentenced at the NT Supreme Court after he was found guilty of attempted sexual intercourse without consent, depriving a person of liberty, and unlawful assault.

At about midnight on May 15, 2024, Bukulaptji, who was 18 years-old at the time, was walking past the Karama service station when he noticed a woman sleeping in the carpark.

The first victim was sleeping near the Karama service station carpark when she was set upon.

Bukulaptji proceeded to assault the 37 year-old victim by strangling, kicking and punching the woman.

He also slammed her head onto the tarmac surface as the woman screamed out for help.

The woman managed to escape Bukulaptji’s barrage of blows before retreating into an apartment block.

About 10 minutes later, Bukulaptji identified his next victim – a 17 year-old girl crossing the same carpark.

The unsuspecting girl was talking on her mobile phone when Bukulaptji sprinted up to her from behind and pushed her in the back with force, sending her to the ground.

Bukulaptji told the girl he was going to ‘f—k her’.

“If you don’t go with me I’m going to kill you,” he told her.

After ambushing the unsuspecting girl, Bukulaptji continued to chase and bash victim in an attempt to rape her.

In the minutes that followed, the girl was chased, punched and kicked as Bukulaptji attempted to rape her.

At one point, the girl bit Bukulaptji’s hand as she struggled against him.

Bukulaptji repeatedly told the girl he was “going to rape” her before biting her back on forehead with such force she started to bleed.

As Bukulaptji dragged the girl along the bitumen, before the victim’s female cousin and a male rescuer intervened.

Bukulaptji sustained an axe wound to the calf following a physical altercation with the man before he was ultimately taken into custody.

Chief Justice Michael Grant said he did not believe Bukulaptji was “the slightest bit sorry” for his actions.

The court heard the 17 year-old girl was unable to complete her final year of schooling due to psychological trauma, and continued to suffer from anxiety.

“On that night you stole her independence, her education and her ability to move through the world with her former sense of confidence,” NT Chief Justice Michael Grant said.

“At the time that (her) victim impact statement was prepared, her persuasive feeling was that you had stolen her teenage years and made her a hermit in own home.”

Justice Grant said he did not believe Bukulaptji was “the slightest bit sorry” for his actions.

“I think you are sorry that you were caught and you are sorry that you will be punished for what you did, but they are entirely different matters to genuine remorse,” he said.

“It is difficult to identify how it is you turned out to be so twisted and dysfunctional as to be capable of this conduct on this night.”

It was heard Bukulaptji had no criminal history.

“This is the worst example of attempted sexual intercourse without consent that I have encountered,” Justice Grant said.

Bukulaptji was handed a total sentence of five years and four months imprisonment, backdated to May 15, 2024.

A non-parole period of three years and one month was fixed.

Originally published as NT man Lochlan Bukulaptji sentenced for attempted rape in Karama