A man who "hunted" a random teenage girl "like an animal" through an Ipswich supermarket trying to kill her with a bow and arrow has been jailed for 10 and a half years.
On Wednesday, Benjamin Bourke pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of a 15-year-old girl in September, 2020.
During a sentencing hearing in Brisbane, Crown Prosecutor Matt Le Grand told the Supreme Court the girl suffered hand and torso injuries during a "premeditated and purposeful attack" by Bourke at an Aldi store in Booval.
"She was hunted like an animal around the store" he said.
Mr Le Grand told the court the incident had taken place after Bourke decided he wanted to end his life at the hands of authorities.
He said Bourke believed he could achieve this by killing a stranger and causing "public panic".
"In order to provoke police into a violent stand-off, he decided to take a life," he said.
The court heard the 28-year-old had armed himself with a compound bow and five arrows, and "back up" weapons including three small sledgehammers and two knives and left his home.
Dressed in all black and donning a full-face mask, the court heard Bourke began walking the streets searching for a victim.
CCTV vision of his journey was played to the court and showed him first shooting an arrow at an Indigenous woman who had been jogging, but the arrow missed.
The court heard he had initially targeted her for racial reasons but did not continue to pursue her as he thought "there would be more witnesses at the shops".
As Bourke continued walking, the court heard he then came across another woman with a baby, but decided not to kill her.
'Persistent and protracted' attack lasted four minutes
Further security vision showed his final stop at the supermarket, where he approached the 15-year-old outside as she was locking up her bike.
The court heard he removed his mask and said "I'll let you see who I am first" before aiming the bow toward her face and releasing an arrow.
This shot missed, and the girl quickly retreated inside, but he chased behind her, and began a "persistent and protracted" four-minute attack, the court heard.
The footage from inside the store shows Bourke stalking the panicked girl as she tried to run and hide from him between the aisles.
It showed Bourke shooting the girl three more times, on one occasion striking her, with the arrow going through her mobile phone case, then piercing her hand and her torso.
Bourke continued to stalk the injured girl, this time holding one of the hammers, but he was eventually tackled and detained by bystanders and arrested by police shortly after.
Mr Le Grand told the court the girl's injuries were fortunately minor, but "the mental wounds are far more extensive".
In a victim impact statement submitted to the court, the teenager said the terrifying incident has had a major impact on her life and she remains hypervigilant and suspicious of people in public.
Bourke's lawyer submitted her client was diagnosed with mild autism and mixed personality disorder which led him to experience periods of "rage outbursts" and had a history of making threats and attempts of self-harm.
The court heard Bourke had taken a small amount of ice and cannabis earlier in the day and had been "living in a chronically dysphoric state," but he was not suffering any significant mental health issues that could explain such serious offending.
Instead, Mr Le Grand told the court Bourke had been "driven by a selfish mindset" and the teenager became the victim of his murderous intent because she "happened to be in his path".
"[Bourke] developed a primitive and immature personality where he was angry at the world," he said.
Bourke has already spent 946 days in custody and cannot apply for parole until he has served at least 80 per cent of his sentence.
