Teen Lochlan Bukulaptji, who tried to rape girl in ‘brutal, callous, persistent and extremely violent’ attack, gets three years’ jail

A man who attempted to rape a teenage girl in Darwin last year in a brutal attack could walk free in 2027 despite having a ‘high risk of sexual recidivism’.

NT Chief Justice Michael Grant

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A Northern Territory man who attempted to rape a woman and strangled and beat another in “brutal, callous, persistent and extremely violent” attacks could be released in a little over two years despite the NT Chief Justice finding the incident was “the worst example of attempted sexual intercourse without consent” he had ever encountered.

In May 2024 Lochlan Bukulaptji stalked a teenager walking through a shopping centre carpark in Darwin before lunging at the girl’s back as she entered a park, yelling that he was going to rape her and making threats to kill her before physically restraining and strangling the 17-year-old.

Last week the Northern Territory Supreme Court heard how Bukulaptji could be released into the community by June 2027 including time already served after being sentenced by Chief Justice Michael Grant to a minimum of three years and one month in jail – with a maximum of five years and four months – despite being assessed by a social worker as having a “high risk of sexual recidivism”.

Bukulaptji, 18 at the time of the attack, had punched the girl in the head and stripped her naked from the waist up, then chased her when she broke free. When he caught her again, he lay on her, grabbing the teen by the throat, saying he would kill her if she did not go with him.

The court heard how Bukulaptji continued his brutal attack as he “frogmarched” the woman back to the park just past midnight in his attempt to rape her, before she attempted to escape again and he bit her forehead and dragged her by her hair along gravel to stop her.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Grant found that the man would have raped her had the woman’s cousin – with whom she was on the phone at the time of the attack – and a friend not arrived at the location and rescued her.

He was also sentenced for a separate attack that occurred 10 minutes prior to the attempted rape where he approached a 37-year-old female sleeping under blankets in the carpark of a service station, and shone a light in her face before peeling back the blanket and looking at her body.

Bukulaptji stomped on the woman’s head and kicked her twice after strangling her, before trying to drag her.

On Wednesday the court heard that the 17-year-old victim was unable to complete her final year of schooling as a result of her psychological trauma, and was forced to take extended leave from work due to the physical and psychological impacts of the attack.

Chief Justice Grant said the victim suffers anxiety attacks and flashbacks repeatedly, and has a sense of extreme hopelessness.

“I am not satisfied that you are in the slightest bit sorry for what you did,” he told Bukulaptji.

“I think you are sorry that you were caught and you are sorry that you will be punished for what you did, but they are entirely different matters to genuine remorse.

Chief Justice Grant said it was “difficult to identify” how Bukulaptji “turned out to be so twisted and dysfunctional” to have been capable of such offending.

“You enjoyed going to school and you enjoyed undertaking traditional activities such as hunting and fishing with the other members of the community,” he said.

“You attended a Christian school on Elcho Island until the age of 17, but you obviously failed to absorb any of those principles or values or ethics during your education.

“You were initiated through ceremony at the age of 11 and you have cultural responsibilities for your country as an initiated man.”

The court heard that Bukulaptji had moved to Darwin to find work but instead started drinking alcohol and smoking cannabis, and that he was intoxicated at the time of his offending, which was captured on CCTV.

“The extended period over which you tormented this poor girl, and the callous disregard you showed for her physical and psychological wellbeing, makes the footage very difficult to watch,” the judge said.

“Your conduct demonstrated an almost incomprehensibly high level of disregard for the autonomy and the dignity of another human being.”

At the sentencing on Wednesday, Chief Justice Grant said the maximum penalty for aggravated attempted sexual intercourse without consent was 25 years in prison.

He said the accused was “entitled to some leniency” because he was still young and pleaded guilty at an early stage.

“You had committed an assault on a female causing harm approximately two months prior to this incident, but you were not convicted of that assault until December 2024, approximately seven months after this incident,” he said.

“The nature of your conduct makes it difficult for me to accept that you have any empathy for your victims or any remorse for your offending. The inhumanity of these two attacks also makes it difficult for me to accept that you do not present a real risk of reoffending in this manner in the future.

“You showed no inhibition at all in using extreme violence towards these two women, and your readiness to do so makes it difficult for me to accept that this was some sort of isolated aberration.”

Earlier this year Chief Justice Grant blamed increased policing in the Territory for skyrocketing incarceration figures, saying officers were taking a “zero-tolerance” approach to crime under the new Country Liberal Party government, following a spate of violent crime in the nation’s Top End.

He declared judges were ill-equipped to expeditiously address the growing strain on the prison system, asserting there was “nothing” the courts could do to alleviate the situation.