A man who hunted a “teenage girl” with a compound bow and arrow through an Aldi store as he tried to kill her, has been jailed.
Benjamin Jeremy Bourke, 28, pleaded guilty to attempted murder of the teen, who cannot be named for legal reasons, at the supermarket in Booval, west of Brisbane, in September, 2000, it is reported.
He carried out the attack after having an argument with his housemate earlier in the day and deciding to end his life, Brisbane Supreme Court was told.
Prosecutor Matt Le Grand said that the defendant had then left his house in Bundamba and taken with him the bow as well as two knives and three small sledge hammers.
The court was reportedly told that Bourke had planned to create a situation where he would be shot by police as he wanted to die.
“He decided to take a life, he just didn’t know which life he would take," said Mr Le Grand, reported news.com.au.
Bourke was wearing a mask, a hoodie and long pants when he went looking for someone to attack.
He was seen on CCTV footage walking from Booval Railway Station along South Station Rd with the bow.
The court was reportedly told that Bourke did consider “choosing” a mum with her small child but in the end decided to go for someone else.
Footage from CCTV did show Bourke firing his bow at a woman who was jogging nearby but he failed to hit her.
“His reason for [shooting at her] was that the woman was indigenous and he didn't like indigenous [people],” Mr Le Grand claimed.
Bourke then allegedly carried onto the shopping centre thinking that “there would be more witnesses at the shops”.
Mr Le Grand reportedly said: “Causing an alarm was part of Mr Bourke's plan. It's when he reached the Aldi shop, he found his target.”
Finding a teenage girl who was locking her bike on the road, Bourke removed his mask and told her he would “let you see who I am first” before firing an arrow that narrowly missed.
The teen then ran into the Aldi shop to try and get away, hiding behind a pallet but Bourke fired at her again, this time injuring her left hand and chest.
The victim managed to escape again and was showing a customer the arrow in her body when Bourke fired another arrow which missed.
The girl was running around the store being stalked by Bourke who fired one more arrow that missed.
At this point the court heard that Bourke walked up to the girl and asked for the arrow back, which she refused.
As he is talking to the girl, two men tackled him to the ground before police arrived.
Mr Le Grand reportedly said Bourke showed a "selfish mindset" and lacked remorse since the attack.
"She was hunted like an animal around the store for about four minutes," he said. "The offence is protracted, it was persistent and could have easily had other consequences and indeed that was Mr Bourke's intent. This was a premeditated and purposeful attack, the offending occurred in public.
"Therefore it's not just an example of violence in public but violence deliberately in public."
The court heard Bourke had been diagnosed with mixed personality disorder and was a regular cannabis user.
Mr Le Grand said that while health issues were a “contributing factor”, Bourke was well aware of his actions and consequences during the attack.
Justice Tom Sullivan sentenced Bourke to 10 years and six months in jail.
