A former army soldier is advocating for more severe punishments for juvenile offenders after he was allegedly attacked and stabbed by a group of young people in Queensland.
Chris Sanders was purportedly followed by a bunch of teenagers last week when he went to the Alexandra Hills Shopping Centre in Brisbane to purchase a rotisserie chicken.
He said that in an effort to protect himself, he shoved one of the youngsters to the ground.
“I started walking back through the shopping centre and all I heard was, ‘knife, knife, knife’,” he said.
Sanders suffered many stab wounds, with the knife’s blade missing his heart by just 1.5 cm.
Having watched the entire incident, his wife Jodi Lovely believed he was going to pass away.
“I thought that’s it, just looking at him on the floor in the blood,” she continued. Sanders claimed that the attack has made him a fearful person.
“All I am doing is looking over my shoulder for the next teenager who is going to stab me and I shouldn’t have to do that,” he stated.
There are charges against a 15-year-old and a 17-year-old youngster.
Sanders reported that the younger adolescent was freed on bond. “Youth crime is in crisis” in Queensland, according to Opposition Leader David Crisafulli.
Given that a wave of crime is engulfing northern portions of Queensland, Crisafulli has slammed Police Minister Mark Ryan for his failures.
Ryan reaffirmed his support for the government’s strategy when he attended the first cabinet meeting following Steven Miles’ appointment as premier. Crisafulli, though, questioned why he kept his portfolio.
“To know that he remains in that role shows not much has changed when it comes to law and order at all,” Crisafulli stated.
