Cunningham: Alleged Nightcliff murder tragedy sparks questions that need answered
There are so many questions following Linford’s tragic, senseless death this week, including what is happening to this beautiful place we call home – writes Matt Cunningham.
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The fruit and vegetables at the Nightcliff Friendly Grocer are the freshest in Darwin.
But that’s not the reason this business has prospered long after it had any right to.
It’s just a few hundred metres from Woolworths, but still, up to 800 customers every day make their way through the local supermarket’s doors.
The quality of the produce is a bonus, but it’s the friendly, caring customer service that has always set this business apart.
A place where if you ask someone where you can find something, they will go and grab it for you themselves.
I once asked the woman behind the deli counter for some salami.
She asked if I was making pizza and when I answered in the affirmative I soon had a basket full of ingredients including the best mozzarella cheese a human will ever consume.
The supermarket is throwback to a different era.
A simpler time when customer service was valued over profits.
Walk through its doors, as my family would do several times a week, and you were guaranteed to find a smiling face ready to help.
Customer Trevor Primmer summed up the secret to the supermarket’s success this week.
It was the culture created over three decades by the owners, Linford and Margaret Feick.
“We knew him for 20 years and we always used to comment to him, ‘how do you keep getting such beautiful staff in the store,’?” Mr Primmer said.
“Then I realised it’s because it comes from the top. He was always great to the staff and it was just the best place to go to – we’d always go there before the big places. They’re just a wonderful family; the two kids, the grandkids and everyone who worked there loved them.” The fact this was such a happy place for so many people, helps explain why we are so upset today.
There are so many questions following Linford’s tragic, senseless death this week.
Why was a teenager charged with a string of serious offences on bail when he allegedly stabbed Linford at the supermarket on Wednesday?
Why is there a $12m police station across the road from the premises where Linford was killed with no police in it?
And what is happening to this beautiful place we call home?
It’s remarkable, but not the slightest bit surprising, that the teenager who allegedly killed Linford on Wednesday afternoon was already on bail.
As news of Linford’s death spread on Wednesday night, people were already wondering out loud whether the alleged offender had been afforded his liberty by the Territory’s flawed justice system.
History is always the best indicator of future performance, and there is plenty of recent history of defendants committing violent offences while out on bail.
It’s just over two years since Darwin bottleshop worker Declan Laverty was killed by Keith Kerinauia, who was on bail for aggravated robbery and aggravated assault.
Two teenagers charged over an alleged home invasion in Alice Springs in December that left a baby with a fractured skull had previously been charged with about 300 offences and bailed 35 times.
Separately, another teenager allegedly involved in that incident was given compassionate bail to attend a funeral, despite concerns he would abscond, which was exactly what he did.
Since the 2017 Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children there has been a shift in the priorities of our justice system, away from the safety of the community, and in favour of the rights of the accused. The Finocchiaro Government has been trying to reverse this correction, introducing stricter bail laws named in honour of Declan Laverty.
But two things are becoming clear; the laws are still failing to adequately protect law-abiding citizens, and there is growing tension between the government and the judiciary about the approach that should be taken.
Following the controversy over a judge’s decision to grant compassionate bail to the teenager who subsequently absconded while attending a funeral, Chief Justice Michael Grant took the unusual step of issuing a four-page public statement.
In it, he outlined the factors judges must consider when assessing the granting of bail for a youth.
These include “the need to consider all other options before remanding a youth in custody”, “the need to strengthen and preserve the relationship between the youth and the youth’s family”, “the cognitive capacity, health and developmental needs of the youth”, and, if the youth is Aboriginal, “any issues that arise due to the youth’s Aboriginality including cultural background, ties to extended family or place and any other relevant cultural issues or obligation”.
After noting the content of bail laws was a matter for the government, Chief Justice Grant said: “Unlike New South Wales, by way of example, there is no provision in the Northern Territory legislation requiring that bail must not be granted to a youth unless the court has a ‘high degree of confidence’ the young person will not commit a further offence while on bail. However, it must be borne in mind that since the introduction of the New South Wales provision the number of youths in custody in that jurisdiction has increased by 32 per cent.”
It would appear the Chief Justice was issuing a warning about following a tougher path. The government has instead taken the statement as an invitation, announcing on Thursday it will urgently recall Parliament next week to implement laws that go at least as far as New South Wales, if not further.
It will likely have widespread support from a community wondering why its safety was never the primary consideration in bail decisions.
Linford’s death is also a reminder the Territory has a chronic shortage of police.
Anyone who shops regularly at the Nightcliff Friendly Grocer or the two service stations across the road would have witnessed teenagers, with no fear of any consequence, trying to help themselves to these businesses’ stock.
The business owners have been left to defend themselves.
The service stations have a “no challenge” policy.
Better to be a victim of theft than of something much worse.
You can do that when you are part of a major corporation.
But when you’re a small business working seven days a week to make ends meet, it’s a lot harder to stand back and watch your profits literally walk out the door.
And so, according to the police allegations, Linford made the tragic decision to usher a thieving teenager out of his store on Wednesday afternoon, and paid for that decision with his life.
Governments of both stripes have long denied we have a police shortage, but how else can you explain the existence of a new police station directly opposite where Linford was killed, that is effectively home to no police.
It’s a tragic irony that just four months before his father was fatally stabbed, Ben Feick was telling the NT News the fancy new $12 billion building had made the area less safe. “The only thing it’s reduced is the amount of police we actually see in the area now,” he said.
A police station with no police. It was like something out of the comedy series Utopia. The Chief Minister even described it as a glorified office building. The biggest joke in town. But no one is laughing today.
More Coverage
Originally published as Cunningham: Alleged Nightcliff murder tragedy sparks questions that need answered
Finocchiaro: Fight with us for the Territory we love
Territorians have every right to feel heartbroken, frustrated and angry about the situation we again find ourselves in, writes Lia Finocchiaro.
Bail previously granted to alleged Nightcliff murderer
The teenager who allegedly fatally stabbed Nightcliff Friendly Grocer Linford Feick had been granted bail months before the fatal incident. See his bail conditions.