Ex-security guard tells of ‘cesspit frontline hell’ at Booval Fair

A former Booval Fair security guard quit after he was allegedly beaten by a recidivist gang of thieves and said working at the shopping centre was “cesspit frontline hell”.

A former Booval Fair security guard who was allegedly beaten by a gang of thieving juveniles while on shift said the shopping centre was run by gangs.

Booval Fair.

Booval Fair made headlines last week after two teenage girls were caught on camera resisting citizen’s arrest after they allegedly stole alcohol and cosmetic products.

During the alleged physical altercation, a cleaner and members of the public were forced to come to the aid of the centre’s sole security guard who was allegedly seriously assaulted.

The altercation reignited safety concerns among community members who said they did not feel safe enough to shop at the centre, as well as a former Booval Fair security guard who said they quit working there last year following an alleged assault by a gang.

Over the past decade the Ipswich-based security guard has worked at 20 centres across the southeast, and said Booval was by far the most hostile working environment.

“Some are really good to work at and others are an absolute cesspit frontline hell and Booval is probably one of the worst next to Woodridge, Logan Central Plaza,” he said.

“I quit after being put in hospital by a gang … it was the final straw. I got sick of the daily grind against the amount of crime and mental health issues.”

The guard said the group of seven to 10 juveniles allegedly attacked him after he had asked them to leave last year.

“They would come at night and come in force. It just got to the point they weren’t taking heed of me,” he said.

“They all turned and attacked me, two were hitting me with metal scooters. I had to go to the hospital to get my skull checked for fractures.

“People need to know about this, it made me sick to think that all this was just going under the radar.”

An Ipswich security guard and local dad who quit his job at Booval Fair in 2021 after he was allegedly attacked and beaten by a gang. Picture: Supplied

The Ipswich father said the security company Trident needed to have more than one Booval guard rostered on during busy retail days.

“(The alleged crime) is abnormal beyond belief. I had more incidents at Booval in eight to nine months, than I had in the other 20 centres I worked at in total,” he said.

“The whole centre is in fear. Every worker, and most of them are young girls in retail or elderly ladies.

“The violent teenage gangs were part of (the issue) … the other part was the amount of seriously mentally ill [people]. You would have them coming through and just defecating wherever they felt like it.

“The amount of people that have been hurt there has staggered me, I had to call an ambulance about 30 times over a nine month period for people who were beaten, overdosed, or sick.”

The guard said the current Booval Fair security team was made up of former prison guards, ex-military, and nightclub bouncers.

“(One guard) has been put in hospital many times — he’s been cut, bitten, and scratched,” he said.

“The most effective solution I can see would be to have two guards there, but there’s no way anyone would pay for that.”

Booval Fair alleged shop steal turns wild on Tuesday, July 5.

Police statistics show Ipswich police were called to other shopping centres in the district more often than Booval, however the guard said that it wasn’t an accurate representation as some incidents were not reported.

The Ipswich man said Woolworths and Big W each had a security guard but it was against those companies’ policies to intervene with shoplifters, and when a crime occurred it was the company’s responsibility to report it.

“I’ve worked at Riverlink and it’s nowhere near as bad as Booval,” he said.

“Nine times out of 10 they just walk out and the cops don’t end up being called, so it goes unpunished and unnoticed.

“If workers intervene there’s a fear they will lose their job for overstepping their authority.

“But for centre guards there’s a fear of losing your job if you understep. Even though it’s against policy not to stop them; it’s expected.”

A spokeswoman for Booval Fair said the security at the centre was proactive and visible at all times.

“Police Beat is also located onsite and we work closely with their team. In the recent incident at Booval Fair, our security team were present immediately,” she said.

“We have been made aware that the perpetrators in the recent incident are part of the same group of people who are unfortunately on a [alleged] crime wave throughout Ipswich, not just at Booval Fair.

“We will continue to work with police, our security team, cleaners, and our retailers, to ensure that we keep an eye out for those in question and alert police immediately.”

The spokeswoman said there was a great sense of community at Booval Fair and reassured the community it was a safe place to shop.

“Our retailers are local small businesses, mums and dads from within our community, and they support each other and work together with us when something like this happens.”

Following last week’s incident, Ipswich Metro Patrol Acting Inspector Emma Riley assured locals they were safe and police were working to address a recent spike in property crime across the district.

“We really encourage people that if they are feeling unsafe or see anything, we really want them to report the incident … so we can prevent and disrupt any crime that is occurring or may occur in the future,” she said.

Inspector Riley said it was important for the community not to take matters into their own hands.

“We understand people want to do the right thing and of course we are very thankful when the community steps in and assists us but we really can’t stress enough that we don’t want people putting their own lives or any other innocent person’s life at risk.

“It can also compromise investigations for us.”

Originally published as Ex-security guard tells of ‘cesspit frontline hell’ at Booval Fair