Jack Bradley Cameron pleads guilty to late night knife attack

A young soon-to-be-father has been slammed for “taking a knife to a fist fight”, with a magistrate saying how the scenario could have ended like the devastating stabbing murder of 17-year-old Jack Beasley.

A young soon-to-be-father to be has narrowly avoided jail after he “took a knife to a fist fight” in a late-night clash that drew harsh criticism, with the scenario loosely compared to the devastating stabbing murder of 17-year-old Jack Beasley.

Luckily, Jack Bradley Cameron’s victim was not seriously injured, “but he could have easily been so,” Acting Magistrate Nigel Rees repeated.

“He’s used a knife.”

The Eton 20-year-old parolee now has a jail term hanging over his head for the next 12 months and he has to seek permission to leave the state.

Mackay Magistrates Court heard there was longstanding animosity between the pair including a previous fight and verbal threats towards the victim over social media, so when Cameron spotted the other man out on the intersection of Victor and Greggory Streets on December 2, 2023, he actively confronted him.

“You want this... this is what you are going to get for snitching to the cops,” Cameron told his victim.

The victim saw Cameron pull out a knife and hold it by his right leg - so he tried to grab Cameron’s right hand, which was holding the knife, but Cameron was able to get it free.

“At this time you lunged forward towards the (victim), you struck him once with your right hand, the hand you were holding the knife with,” Mr Rees said.

Jack Bradley Cameron pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm and threatening violence after he confronted a man he had beef with armed with a knife. Picture: Heidi Petith

The victim tried to back away but Cameron struck him in the knife.

“He felt a blade touch his neck and he sustained a small laceration to the area as a result of your actions,” Mr Rees said.

Cameron then walked away, telling the victim: “I’ll be back to finish you” and “I’m going to kill you”.

It was also accepted the victim put Cameron in a necklock during the fight but Mr Rees said “the reality is you were armed with a knife”.

He pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm while armed and threatening violence - discharge firearm or other act at night.

Prosecutor Ruth Whiskers, noting Cameron’s age, submitted for two years' probation sparking disapproval from Mr Rees, who asked if she was joking and blunty rejected the suggestion.

“He’s used a knife, he’s... threatened to kill him... he’s also cut him on the neck,” Mr Rees said.

Even Cameron’s lawyer Michael Gatenby, of Gatenby Law, conceded jail was in range but pushed for six to nine months wholly suspended because his client wanted to relocate to Western Australia with his pregnant girlfriend, who was due to have their baby in May.

“This offence has a very serious aspect to it,” Mr Rees said.

“Although the (victim) wasn’t seriously injured... he could have easily been so.”

Mr Gatenby conceded the incident could have gotten “wildly out of hand” and accepted that general deterrence - meaning a penalty to dissuade others from committing the same offence - was at the heart, referring to the case of Jack Beasley, 17, who was stabbed to death during a night out with friends on the Gold Coast in 2019.

Jack Beasley

“Regrettably young men arming themselves with knives are ending in tragic consequences,” Mr Gatenby said, also arguing his client had armed himself with a knife “in an effort to avoid a fight” with the other man.

“This is effectively gratuitous street violence,” Mr Rees said.
“He’s actively gone over... actively, and he’s armed.

“You don’t take a knife to a fist fight.”

The court also heard just two days after the attack on December 4, Cameron assaulted a man contracted to slash grass on a neighbour’s Eton property for repeatedly damaging a barb-wire fence on his family’s property.

For that he pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm, was fined $500 and a conviction was not recorded.

The court heard Cameron suffered anxiety and depression, was taking medication, and had engaged with a mental health care plan with ongoing sessions. Various character references also said Cameron was well behaved and described this as being out of character.

Mr Rees stood the case down for about two hours remanding Cameron in custody in the watch house.

“You were armed with a knife, you chose to confront the (victim),” Mr Rees said to Cameron after bringing him back to court.

“All choices I’m sure you’re regretting while standing in that dock handcuffed.”

Mr Rees said he “came very close to sending you into actual custody”, but balancing his youth decided to hand him 12 months' imprisonment with immediate parole.
Convictions were recorded.

Originally published as Jack Bradley Cameron pleads guilty to late night knife attack