Qld teen spent weeks looking for someone to ‘stab or kill’

A teenager convicted of the attempted murder of a random woman who he stabbed as she lay sunbathing on a Queensland beach, has had his appeal thrown out.

Stabbing victim Kaitlin Jones, 23, who was stabbed by a stranger multiple times in a horrific attack while she was sunbathing on Blacks Beach.

A teenager convicted of the attempted murder of a random woman who he stabbed as she lay sunbathing on a Queensland beach, has had his appeal thrown out.

The attacker, 16 at the time and cannot be identified, stabbed the young woman multiple times on Blacks Beach in Mackay’s northern beaches on September 13, 2021.

He was sentenced to seven years in youth detention in October 2023 after pleading guilty to attempted murder, but will be released after serving half.

The offender, given the pseudonym ‘BEJ’ by the court, applied to the Supreme Court’s Court of Appeal – the state’s highest court – for leave to appeal against his sentence.

Police at Blacks Beach after the stabbing attack. Photo: Daryl Wright

Legal Aid Queensland, representing BEJ, made the application on the grounds that the sentenced judge gave insufficient weight to the fact that prison will weigh heavily on BEJ due to his diagnosed autism spectrum disorder and borderline intellectual functioning.

The applicant also submitted that he had been diagnosed with impairments for which he had never received treatment, and argued that his sentence was “manifestly excessive” and he should have received the shortest appropriate sentence under the Youth Justice Act.

On Tuesday, Court of Appeal justices Debra Mullins, John Bond, and David Boddice released their decision in full.

The victim – then 23-year-old Kaitlin Jones – was stabbed in the head, neck, leg, and chest. She suffered life-threatening injuries, underwent surgery, and spent five days in hospital.

“The complainant [victim] … had not recovered mentally and emotionally, as she was extremely anxious when alone or in public and had a constant fear of someone hurting her,” Justice Debra Mullins said in the written decision.

The appeal decision said she did not know her attacker.

“For about two to three weeks prior to the offending,[BEJ] had been walking around the town, armed with a knife, looking for isolated individuals he could stab or kill,” Justice Mullins wrote.

“He had also been watching violent pornography and documentaries about serial killers and playing violent video games.”

Stabbing victim Kaitlin Jones.

The juvenile had no prior criminal history. However, he did have a history of cannabis dependency, he was exposed to domestic violence as a child, his mother died when he was a child, and he suffered sexual and emotional abuse by his stepmother.

Psychiatrist Siva Bala assessed him in October 2022, writing in his report that BEJ’s autism spectrum disorder and borderline intellectual functioning were “significant mitigating factors”.

“[Dr Bala said] individuals with ASD have difficulty processing emotion and adopt rigid, fixated views or interests that lead to offending behaviour, and the limited awareness of the feelings of others due to autism leads to a loss of inhibition against acting out.

“Dr Bala considered the specific nature of the applicant’s offending reflected many of the impairments of ASD and low intellectual ability.

“[Dr Bala said] a term of imprisonment will weigh more heavily on [BEJ] when compared to a person of normal health. He is more vulnerable to bullying, social isolation, victimisation and exploitation. Interpersonal difficulties with prison staff and inmates are more likely.”

However, a separate pre-sentence report compiled by the acting team leader of a Youth Justice Service Centre and based on in-person interviews with the offender, noted that he demonstrated little remorse or empathy about his offending.

“The author considered that the applicant’s lack of remorse, empathy and limited insight into his offending behaviour may be attributed to his ASD diagnosis,” the appeal decision said.

“It was also noted that during his time at the detention centre, the applicant had maintained ‘gold status’ behaviour for over 12 months … he consistently displayed behaviour that was respectful, responsible and safe and participated in learning and education.”

Paul Ferdinand called emergency services. Photo: Daryl Wright

Justices Mullins, Bond, and Boddice refused the application to appeal.

“The sentencing judge outlined … [that] the complainant would have died without medical attention, there was premeditation where the applicant had been looking for a victim for some weeks, the attack was unprovoked and involved numerous blows, and there was sexual motivation to the offending,” the appeal judges said in their decision.

“The applicant has neither shown that the sentence of seven years’ detention was not for the shortest appropriate period having regard to all the relevant circumstances, nor that the sentence was manifestly excessive.”

Originally published as Qld teen spent weeks looking for someone to ‘stab or kill’