Toowoomba victims of youth crime call on Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to hear their plea for change

A vulnerable man is clinging to life in Toowoomba Hospital after he was the alleged victim of a savage assault in the heart of our city while the Premier is silent on when – or if – she will make the trip to Toowoomba to meet with victims.

Robert Brown, the 75-year-old man who suffered a critical injury after he was allegedly pushed from behind while waiting for a taxi, is clinging to life in the Toowoomba Hospital.

The alleged assault sent Mr Brown falling forward and he hit his head on the road, causing horrific neck, back and head injuries.

This assault was allegedly committed by Isaac Zane Cubby, just three weeks after his 18th birthday, while two co-accused teenagers allegedly waited in a stolen car parked in the heart of the Toowoomba CBD.

Mr Cubby has been charged with grievous bodily harm, robbery using personal violence, enter dwelling and commit and unlawful use of a motor vehicle, and has not yet entered a plea.

Police allege the trio was after Mr Brown’s backpack that was sitting beside him.

Following further extensive investigations police on Wednesday attended a Drayton address where a 17-year-old boy, a 16-year-old boy and a 15-year-old boy were taken into custody without incident.

The 17-year-old boy has been charged with armed robbery with violence, grievous bodily harm and unlawful use of a motor vehicle, while the 16-year-old boy has been charged with armed robbery and grievous bodily harm.

The 15-year-old boy has been charged with burglary, enter dwelling and commit, stealing and two counts of unlawful use of a motor vehicle.

All will appear before Toowoomba Children’s Court.

HAVE YOUR SAY ON YOUTH CRIME HERE

While the matter is still before the courts, the alleged brazen attack was greeted with an outpouring of grief in Toowoomba, with residents fed up with the constant reports of burglaries, home invasions and violent robberies committed by young people in our streets.

Earlier this week The Chronicle launched the Enough Is Enough youth crime campaign and called on Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to come to Toowoomba, meet with victims and explain how she will fix the problem.

Today all we received was silence.

The crime scene at Grand Central Toowoomba after a 75-year-old was critically injured during an alleged robbery on February 6, 2023. Picture: Peta McEachern

The Premier was again contacted by The Chronicle on Wednesday to reiterate the invitation.

A spokesman for Ms Palaszczuk didn’t address the invite and instead focused on the reforms package the Labor Government planned to introduce soon.

“When young people break the law, the community expects them to be held accountable, and so do we,” the spokesman said.

“The government has already announced new measures to make it clear that crime will not be tolerated in Queensland.

“The drafting of new laws is well under way and it’s important we get that drafting right before we introduce the legislation to parliament in two weeks.”

The spokesman said the assault on Mr Brown was “not acceptable”.

“This was a violent and tragic incident, and the thoughts of everyone in the government are with the friends and family of the victim of this crime and the Toowoomba community,” he said.

“It’s not acceptable that community safety is ever at risk – and community safety is paramount to the government.”

The alleged assault came just a few days after a pack of teens, allegedly armed with a hammer, forced their way into a Toowoomba home in an unrelated incident, assaulting a man and stealing his vehicle.

Just over a month ago, North Lakes mum Emma Lovell died after she was stabbed during a burglary gone wrong, allegedly by a 17-year-old boy.

Victims of crime are calling on the Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to come to Toowoomba and hear their concerns. NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

In another incident, two men were caught on CCTV camera walking into a Rangeville home armed with a machete about 3pm on Tuesday.

It is understood they were confronted by a tradesman and fled the scene.

They were later arrested and are expected to be charged with trespass and attempted stealing to face the Toowoomba Magistrates Court today.

Officers from the Toowoomba Crime Group have also arrested and charged another person over an alleged robbery committed at a car wash at the weekend.

Toowoomba victims of crime are fed up with what they see as a justice system that favours offenders over those they harm.

In January they formed an advocacy group called Voice of Victims.

Wanting more support for victims are (from left) Aaron McMahon, Ken Cunliffe and Karynne Paull of Voice of Victims, a recently formed Toowoomba victims of crime advocacy group. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Founder Ken Cunliffe said the group was pushing for the victims of youth crime to be afforded the same rights as those who were victims of violent crime.

“We are seeing CCTV vision of these kids carrying knives and machetes, and they are not carrying them unless they have intent,” he said.

“They are carrying them at least to defend themselves, and as we have seen in the past few months, that can have very tragic outcomes at the end of it.”

Mr Cunliffe said he was pushing for victims of youth crime to have access to information about perpetrators, to be able to sit in on their matters in the Children’s Court and to be informed when they were released from detention.

They also want access to trauma counselling and compensation.

“We need a transparent justice system, and we need confidence in the justice system that it is delivering on community expectations with regards to sentences,” he said.

“We need to know those kids are not out and about committing more crimes.”

To make their voices heard, The Chronicle will be campaigning for the Premier to visit Toowoomba and meet with victims.

We have launched an open portal where victims of crime can share their stories in an open letter addressed to the premier, and we invite all victims to have their say.

HAVE YOUR SAY ON YOUTH CRIME HERE