Police figures show how many alleged murders have been linked to knives
Five out of the nine alleged Gold Coast murders in the past year involved knives, while each accused stabber was under the age of 21, according to police figures.
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FIVE out of the nine alleged Gold Coast murders in the past year involved knives, while each accused stabber was under the age of 21.
The police figures also reveal three of the five victims were also under the age of 21.
The numbers highlight the escalation in stabbing deaths involving young people across the city, an issue also being experienced in other parts of Queensland and the world.
Detective Superintendent Brendan Smith – who admits he’s “had enough” of young stabbing deaths – said Gold Coast-based “dedicated researchers” were scouring the globe for solutions in an attempt to end an issue that’s claimed five lives in 12 months.
Harrison Geppert, 17, (September 2019), Jack Beasley, 17, (December 2019), Nicholas Braid, 35, (April 2020), Cian English, 19, (May 2020) and, Raymond Harris, 27, (September 2020) all were killed in incidents involving knives.
The matters remain before the courts.
“I’ve had enough. I really have. We’ve had five people die in the last 12 months … which shouldn’t have happened. It’s young people, not understanding the consequences. There are two outcomes: there’s death or jail,” said Supt Smith, who has repeated his message time after time.
Supt Smith said police intelligence suggested 50 per cent of alleged offences involving knives were committed by people under 25.
He said in the 12 months to June 2020 there had been 450 charges of carrying a knife in a public place. Already this financial year there have been over 100.
“That is obviously a significant concern. And they are the ones we know about,” he said.
“In the last 12 months we’ve had 40 woundings involving knives in the district, so that potentially could have been 40 more deaths.”
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After the death of Mr Harris, Supt Smith blasted young knife carrying youths labelling them “idiots”, and again repeated it was not “Grand Theft Auto” and there was no “reset button”.
He conceded that despite his hopes that Mr Geppert’s death would curtail incidents involving knives, young people were not getting the message.
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Supt Smith said he had heard people say the solution was banning knives, which he quickly dismissed, instead saying the answer was likely a “long-term fix”
“We can’t arrest our way out of this problem. We need a whole of community approach to changing attitudes of our young people about the dangers of carrying a knife. They might not go out with the intention of using that knife but things quickly escalate, and next thing you know someone’s got it (a knife) in their hand, and someone’s dead,” he said.
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“I’ve got people at the moment currently researching best practices all around the world.”
Supt Smith said the fact police were getting involved meant something had failed along the way.
“Why are these kids carrying knives? What’s the message they are getting … about the ridiculous nature of needing to carry a knife. Where are they getting this mindset that the streets are that unsafe they need to carry a knife for protection? There is no need for it.”
He dismissed concerns for the upcoming Schoolies event, saying police were well-versed in major events, and had appropriate powers in place.
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