Neighbours came to aid of child after frenzied knife attack, court hears
A TEENAGER went on a frenzied knife attack against an 11-year-old girl in the full view of his neighbours before they intervened to help the child, a court has heard
Northern Territory
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A TEENAGER went on a frenzied knife attack against an 11-year-old girl in Hermannsburg in the full view of his neighbours before they intervened to help the child, a court has heard.
The victim was playing games on her mobile phone as she was walking down the street with her friend before the offender spontaneously pushed her to the ground and stabbed her eight times.
Raphael Emitja, 19, pleaded guilty in the Alice Springs Supreme Court to giving rise to the danger of death following the attack against the girl in November last year.
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Crown prosecutor Glen Dooley said the victim and the offender lived on the same street but did not know each other up until the attack.
“Despite the number of significant wounds, none of the victim’s major arteries were damaged,” he said.
“This was a particularly dangerous attack on this young girl … [the victim’s] own efforts would have helped avoid a catastrophic outcome.”
On the night of the attack, Emitja saw the victim walking outside with her friend around 6pm before he armed himself with a kitchen knife with a 20 centimetre blade.
Emitja followed the two girls down the street and pushed the victim to the ground before stabbing her eight times.
The girl screamed as she was stabbed on her face, chest, legs and arm as neighbours witnessed the brutal attack.
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A bystander armed himself with a shovel and approached the offender in an attempt to assist the victim.
Another bystander came out of her house and yelled “stop it” at the offender before telling the girls to run into her house for safety.
The offender fled the scene and threw the knife away but police located and arrested him soon after.
The girl was taken to the Alice Springs Hospital for surgical treatment.
Mr Dooley said it was lucky the girl did not sustain more life-threatening injuries.
“A number of people went to the aid of the victim clearly interrupting and disrupting the offender rather than any clear indication that he desisted on his own,” he said.
Defence lawyer Catherine Voumard did not give an explanation of why Emitja went on the random attack but she requested for Chief Justice Michael Grant to order psychological and psychiatric reports.
Emitja was remanded in custody and will reappear in court in August.
Originally published as Neighbours came to aid of child after frenzied knife attack, court hears