Reagan Kubai: NDIS support worker sentenced for waving knife in Surfers Paradise restaurant

A 23-year-old support worker who waved a knife at a food delivery driver in a Surfer’s Paradise Japanese restaurant, has been sentenced. Read what the magistrate had to say.

NDIS support worker Reagan Kubai, 23, left Southport Magistrates Court after being sentenced for waving a knife around in a Surfers Paradise restaurant. Picture: Emily Walker

An NDIS support worker who waved a knife in a Surfers Paradise restaurant will be returning to the other side of the country after being sentenced at a Gold Coast court.

Reagan Kubai, 23, pleaded guilty to going armed so as to cause fear when he appeared at the Southport Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

The court heard police were called to a Japanese restaurant at Surfers Paradise around 12am on January 24, 2025 where they saw Kubai waving a large knife and heatedly conversing with a food delivery driver.

Police drew up their taser and told him to drop the weapon, which he complied with and was arrested.

The court heard police were told Kubai entered the restaurant without consent and grabbed a kitchen knife in an attempt to attack the food delivery driver, who was trying to pick up a food order.

CCTV footage showed Kubai was acting erratically before he arrived at the restaurant and chased another man on Hanlan Street, part of the Surfers Paradise Safe Night Precinct.

General aerial pictures from Surfers Paradise to Coolangatta. Picture: David Clark.

The court heard Kubai, who came to Australia from Kenya in 2023, is currently studying computer science at Edith Cowan University in Western Australia – more than 4000 kilometres away from the Gold Coast.

His defence, duty lawyer Katie Grotherr from Legal Aid, told the court Kubai had flown in from Western Australia to front court that day.

She said Kubai was dealing with emotional distress as his father is unwell in Kenya, and on the night of the offence, had thought someone was following him.

Ms Grotherr told the court Kubai went out with a friend, was intoxicated and had limited recollection of the offence but is remorseful.

Magistrate Wettenhall told Kubai he had caused fear and anxiety to members of the public who were in the vicinity at the time.

“Regardless of the way you felt at the time, there’s simply no excuse for that type of conduct,” he said.

He noted knife crime was prevalent in Queensland and the Gold Coast.

“Hopefully you’ve had an opportunity to reflect on your conduct,” he said.

“If this is the way you behave when you drink alcohol, you should never drink another drop because it obviously doesn’t agree with you.”

Kubai was fined $750 with a conviction not recorded. He was due to return back to Western Australia.