Father of one-punch victim leads national push to tackle youth violence through education

Coward punched at 19 and struck with a pool ball, Luke Jackson is still haunted by the attack — and now he’s calling for change to stop it happening to others.

Seventeen years after his teenage son Sam was killed in a one-punch attack, Neil Davis is still fighting — not for justice, but for prevention.

A national survey commissioned by the Sammy D Foundation — named in honour of Sam — has revealed the confronting extent of violence in Australia and how unprepared most young people are to respond to it.

One in five Australians have witnessed an act of violence in the past five years, rising to one in three among Gen X and Millennial age groups.

Alarmingly, 89 per cent of people say they can’t identify early warning signs of aggression, and more than half — 51 per cent — admit they wouldn’t know how to safely intervene in a public altercation.

Sam Davis was a talented young sportsman who was coward punched at a party at beachside Brighton in Adelaide's south. Picture: Supplied

“If adults don’t know how to recognise or respond to violence, how can we expect young people to?” Mr Davis said.

“We need to give boys and young men better tools — because waiting until they’re in crisis is too late.”

Mr Davis believes the most powerful deterrent isn’t just sentencing, but early education.

The Foundation runs school programs across Australia offering early intervention through anti-violence and emotional regulation workshops.

“If we can get to these young people from a young age … we give them a real-life example of what happened when someone hit someone once — and that was obviously my son,” he said.

Sam Davis was a talented young sportsman before he was fatally attacked.

Neil Davis is still fighting for prevention to stop violence among young people. Photo: Naomi Jellicoe

“We should be teaching our kids how to walk away from those violent situations … rather than escalate them and make them worse.”

For 25-year-old Luke Jackson, the data is more than just numbers. At 19, he became one of the young Australians caught up in a coward punch assault — an experience that still haunts him.

He was out on a casual night in 2019 with friends in Sydney’s northwest when he became the victim of a coward punch attack that could have killed him.

“I can remember it like it was yesterday,” Mr Jackson, now 25, said.

He had just returned from the bar with drinks in hand when a stranger — backed by a group of friends — approached him out of nowhere.

Luke Jackson pictured right after the attack.

Luke Jackson was a victim of an unprovoked coward punch attack in Sydney in 2019 which left him with physical and mental injuries. Photo: Naomi Jellicoe

“The guy walked past me on my way back from the bar. I had drinks in my hand and was heading to the table with my friends as it was my shout.

“He said something to me as I passed him and I didn’t really hear what he said, and I ignored him and kept walking.

“When I got back to the table, I had just put drinks down and sat down. He came over with a number of his friends behind him. I looked up and saw him and he then punched me in the head with a pool ball.”

The violent ambush then escalated quickly.

“The next thing I knew was all of his friends were on top of me and I was in serious danger. I was with two other friends and he had ten other people behind him who then decided to attack my friends,” he said.

Despite CCTV footage of the attack, no charges were laid. And, Mr Jackson felt like he was “let down”. Photo: Naomi Jellicoe

“It was incredibly quick and lasted for about five minutes. The incident only stopped because security came over and he and his mates dispersed.”

Despite CCTV footage of the attack, no charges were laid. And, Mr Jackson felt like he was “let down”.

“I was very frustrated, upset and felt like the system failed me and I was let down,” he said.

“I felt like I wanted justice and none came.

“There should be consequences for instances like this. I am lucky I got to go home.”

And for Mr Davis, the message is clear: If the goal is fewer grieving parents, not more courtrooms, education must come first.

“I’m not going to change those parents’ minds, but I want to change the kids’ minds of today,” he said.

“So when they grow up and have kids, they’re not making the same mistakes their parents are making.”

Originally published as Father of one-punch victim leads national push to tackle youth violence through education