Australian man jailed after hunting 15-year-old girl with a bow and arrow at ALDI
- Replies 5
Content warning: The details of this story may be distressing. Reader discretion is advised.
It was an unprovoked attack that left a 15-year-old Queensland girl traumatised and the Ipswich community in shock.
The concerning incident took place in an ALDI store in Booval, in Ipswich, west of Brisbane, in September 2020. Security cameras revealed a 28-year-old man attempting to murder the young girl by shooting arrows at her and hunting her ‘like a wild animal’.
The teenager survived the horrifying attack.
The girl, who will be left unnamed for legal reasons, was parking her bike outside the supermarket when she became the target of Bourke’s terrifying rampage. CCTV footage of the attack was shown in the Queensland Supreme Court on Wednesday.
According to reports, Bourke appeared to have on a mask, a hoodie, and full-length pants when he walked up to the teenager, armed with his bow and arrow in hand.
Before committing the atrocious attack, he allegedly removed his mask first and told the girl, ‘I’ll let you see who I am first’, before shooting the first arrow. Luckily, it missed the girl.
The girl was pleading with other shoppers for help while running around the store. One arrow pierced her upper torso after going through her hand as she was trying to protect herself.
In the CCTV footage, panicking shoppers can be seen trying to escape the store lest they become targets as well.
Bourke was seen stalking the teenager.
A good Samaritan allegedly shields the 15-year-old before Bourke can close in on her with a sledgehammer. This brief pause allowed other customers to tackle him to the ground and detain him before police showed up.
According to the details of the case, the court heard that Bourke had an argument with his housemate, which led him to seek to take his own life.
However, reports said that the way he wanted to achieve his goal was to be killed in a ‘violent standoff’ with the police.
Crown Prosecutor Matt Le Grand told the court that Bourke, aside from the compound bow and arrows, also armed himself with two knives and three small sledgehammers when he left his home and went outside looking for someone to murder.
‘In order to provoke the police into a violent standoff, he decided to take a life,’ Prosecutor Le Grand said.
‘He just didn’t know which life he would take,’ the prosecutor continued.
According to reports, Bourke also shot an arrow at an indigenous woman who was jogging nearby but missed.
The court heard that his reason for shooting at the jogger was that she was ‘indigenous and he didn’t like indigenous [people]’.
Then, he decided against targeting a woman with her baby before noticing the 15-year-old outside the ALDI store.
He then pursued the teenager inside the store, narrowly missing other shoppers as he shot arrows at the terrified girl. According to reports, Bourke wanted ‘more witnesses’ and wanted to ‘cause an alarm’, so he continued his act of violence inside the shopping precinct.
‘She was hunted like an animal around the store for about four minutes,’ the prosecutor shared.
CCTV footage revealed Bourke releasing another arrow, which grazed the girl’s right arm. Then, he stalked her as she tried to hide behind a pallet. He fired another arrow that penetrated her phone, left hand, and upper torso, causing serious injuries to her fingers and chest.
She escaped his sight and approached another customer while the arrow was still lodged in her torso.
Bourke shot at her again and missed.
As the 15-year-old was shielded by the female shopper, Bourke approached the pair while holding a sledgehammer and asked the teenager to give the arrow – which was still lodged in her hand and torso – back to him, but she refused.
Based on the details of the case, he allegedly told her the arrows were expensive and tried to calmly talk to her before putting his weapons on the ground. Two shoppers approached and tackled him to the ground before the police arrived on the scene.
The girl was in court with her parents on Wednesday. She was said to be sitting silently as the CCTV footage replayed the September 2020 attack for the court.
The court heard that the teenager’s social and family life had been impacted since the traumatising event. She became ‘hyper-vigilant’ and ‘suspicious’ of people ever since.
The court was told that Bourke had not shown remorse since the incident.
A psychiatric report claimed that Bourke developed a ‘primitive and immature’ personality; he was ‘angry at the world’ and felt that his actions were justified.
An official diagnosis revealed that Bourke has mild autism and a personality disorder.
The court also heard that he was a regular cannabis user. While Prosecutor Le Grand said these health issues were a ‘contributing factor’, they were not an excuse as he was aware of his actions and their consequences.
The prosecutor also said that Bourke was not experiencing psychosis during the attack.
Justice Tom Sullivan sentenced Bourke to 10 years and six months in jail. He also received a violent offender declaration. He must also serve 80 per cent of his sentence before receiving eligibility for parole.
The time he’s already served while in the court’s custody will be considered in his service.
Key Takeaways
- Benjamin Jeremy Bourke attacked a 15-year-old girl with a bow-and-arrow in an ALDI store in Queensland.
- The girl was injured as an arrow pierced her upper torso after going through her hand and the phone case she was using to protect herself.
- Bourke, who pleaded guilty to attempted murder, was sentenced to 10-and-a-half years in prison with a serious violent offender declaration.
- The court heard that the girl's social and family life had been impacted since the attack, and she remains hyper-vigilant and suspicious of people in public.