Former rugby player chases down teens after alleged stabbing attack in Perth
A former rugby player who chased down a knife-wielding teen after an alleged “drug deal gone wrong” has opened up about the moment he confronted the pair.
WA News
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A former rugby player has chased down two teens following an alleged stabbing in his street.
One 18-year-old was stabbed in his stomach and another victim, also 18, had his left wrist and thigh slashed in the “drug deal gone wrong” in Perth on Sunday, according to police.
WA Police allege two 16-year-old boys, who were armed with knives, confronted the teenagers as they sat in a ute in Karrinyup at about 2.30pm.
“One of the offenders allegedly grabbed a bag containing cannabis from the victim’s vehicle before both offenders fled down an alleyway,” police said.
But former Western Force rugby player Brynard Stander saw the alleged attack unfold and gave chase.
Speaking to media, the 34-year-old said he told the teens he had cameras out the front of his home while in pursuit.
“While we were running, I said ‘mate, if you want to keep running, I can run quite far so I suggest you just stop and wait for the police’,” Stander said.
“But at that point I just saw that he was bleeding and injured so I said to him ‘you probably need some help’. This was all on the run.”
Stander said the teen he was pursuing eventually stopped at a park.
“I encouraged him to sit down and I’m going to get him some help,” he recalled.
Stander said he “eventually made him quite calm” and then called police and an ambulance.
WA Police said one of the boys was arrested at the Jackson Wilding Reserve and the other was found hiding in a bush on Edmondson Crescent, allegedly in possession of the stolen cannabis.
Police said the Perth teens were each charged with one count of aggravated armed robbery and two counts of grievous bodily harm.
The 18-year-olds were taken to Royal Perth Hospital with critical injuries, but Nine News reports the pair later improved to a stable condition.
Western Australia Premier Roger Cook described it as a “horrific crime” at a press conference and said “it appears to be a drug deal gone bad.”
Last month, he promised to introduce tough new laws to crack down on knife violence, giving the police “anywhere, anytime” powers to conduct searches for weapons.
The laws would give officers the power to “wand”, or use handheld metal detectors to scan people in a designated Knife Wanding Area such as entertainment zones, bus stops, shopping centres, train stations and during sporting or community events.
Mr Cook said the new powers were designed to crack down on the “confronting” examples of high-profile knife violence that have hit the country in recent months, including Sydney’s Bondi massacre.
“Across the nation, we have seen recent examples of high profile crimes that have all involved a common yet concerning thing, they have all involved knives,” he said.
“The images have been confronting, and that is why my government is doing something about it.”
Alongside wanding powers, the laws ramp up penalties for anyone caught selling an edged weapon to a person under the age of 18, with a $36,000 fine or three years in prison now on the books.
Stricter penalties for prohibited weapons such as ballistic knives and knuckle knives will also be introduced, increasing from three years’ imprisonment and $36,000 fine to five years’ in jail and a $60,000 fine.
Any person who refuses to undergo a wanding scan, or refuses to produce the object when requested, will commit an offence, the new laws state.
The offence holds a penalty of up to 12 months jail or fine of up to $12,000.
– with NCA Newswire
Originally published as Former rugby player chases down teens after alleged stabbing attack in Perth
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