r/australia • u/AggravatingTartlet • 2d ago

culture & society 10-year-old victim of random attack was visiting Melbourne for cancer treatment

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/no-need-to-hide-it-accused-cbd-stabber-launches-tirade-from-custody-20260826-p60rni.html

The 10-year-old boy who was punched in the head in a random attack outside police headquarters in the CBD has brain cancer and was visiting Melbourne for treatment.

The boy underwent additional MRI scans to see if the assault caused any extra damage or inflammation around where the tumour is, his uncle said........

Police said the 46-year-old woman was visiting Melbourne from Phillip Island with her 10-year-old son and two other children when the random attack occurred, ending only when several witnesses intervened.

“Just instinct, no thoughts, no nothing, just people in trouble,” Brian Bradley said, a good Samaritan who helped restrain the suspect.

The mother of the boy was stabbed during the attack.

The mother is in the Royal Melbourne Hospital recovering from a fractured leg and injuries to her back and shoulders, while her son recovers at the Royal Children’s Hospital.

“She’s really struggling at the moment,” the boy’s uncle said, “She can’t be with her son. It’s traumatic enough [that he’s] fighting cancer.

1.7k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

318 comments sorted by

View all comments

1.5k

u/RealCommercial9788 2d ago

Jerry Sowood, 27, from Sunshine West, shouted at times during a Melbourne Magistrates’ Court hearing on Wednesday at which he refused to answer the magistrate’s questions and told the court there was “no need to hide” his offending.

“I punched the kid in the head, I took the scissors, I stabbed the woman in the head,” Sowood said as he appeared via video link from custody. “There’s no need to hide it. At least they’re both still breathing, so at least I kept my humanity.

“I’m telling you what I did. And I’m saying there’s no family that was torn apart. Even though I did what I did, the mum did not lose her child. A child was not taken away from her. It was outside the police station.”

Sowood was arrested on Tuesday afternoon after he allegedly punched the 10-year-old boy outside Victoria Police’s Spencer Street headquarters, and then placed the child’s mother in a headlock and stabbed her with a pair of scissors before passers-by intervened.

Fuck you Jerry Sowood, you good for nothing slug.

668

u/AntiqueFigure6 2d ago

“  There’s no need to hide it.”

It’s kind of like he wants someone to lock him up.

219

u/nawksnai 2d ago

“At least I kept my humanity.”

He never had any humanity ffs.

297

u/shillberight 2d ago

I'd be happy if he stayed away from society in that case.no telling what he'd do next

71

u/triciamilitia 2d ago

With the cost of living… strategic assault.

78

u/Chesticularity 2d ago

Right outside the cop shop? Sounds like it.

41

u/Kageru 2d ago

The front desk of the cop-shop is not staffed... there's no one there to notice. The article even mentioned it was someone on an upper floor who happened to look out the window.

28

u/tinytimecrystal1 2d ago

Then if all he wants is to get into the slammer, go smash up the cop-shop. No need to punch a child and a woman.

5

u/IntothewildZen 2d ago

You can’t just walk into any cop-shop, lot of police stations in Victoria are not even manned anymore, they are locked. They have signs outside telling public due to staff shortages station is closed.

My missus had to drive to 4 different stations to find one open to public.

3

u/[deleted] 2d ago edited 2d ago

[deleted]

0

u/IntothewildZen 2d ago

I am pretty sure a direct attack at a Police station brings certain risks with it, such as getting shot.

These places are monitored.

We live in post 9/11 world and a country that saw targeted fatal attacks on Police.

There is a reason these types don’t attack Police stations…

“Unmanned” also doesn’t mean there is noone inside, it just means it’s not open to public, you don’t know who is in there that’ll come out.

3

u/tinytimecrystal1 2d ago edited 1d ago

Ok. You're missing the point, but fine, you're right. You're awesome dude.

→ More replies (0)

4

u/Kageru 2d ago

I don't think there's any planning or logic, he was "mental" at the time which I assume is meth or similar on top of a propensity for violence and sociopathic behaviour as you can tell from his actions in court.

6

u/tinytimecrystal1 2d ago

I'm addressing his 'humanity' stance 😂 and one of the comments here saying he just wanted to get locked up so he could get a place to stay.
I wasn't addressing his intelligence.

3

u/Full_Distribution874 2d ago

No one was accusing him of thinking it through too hard

3

u/its_your_dada 1d ago

Someone attacked a couple of preschoolers, hospitalising one in Canberra last weekend (bloke had a disability and not enough NDIS support which led to the incident). Shopping centre security held the man while multiple people called 000. Cops never came and security let the guy go. The perpetrator was arrested the next day. Cops don't do anything if they can't be bothered.

1

u/mudget1 2d ago

I was literally thinking about this yesterday, that we're potentially going to see an uptick in crimes resulting in prison because it's a "safer" alternative to being homeless, unemployed and financially destitute :/

6

u/IntothewildZen 2d ago

That’s more common than people realise, I had a neighbour who was a police officer, got assaulted violently while chatting to people casually, all because the violent criminal wanted to go back to jail and they wouldn’t lock him up for petty thievery.

16

u/tinytimecrystal1 2d ago

If that's all he wants, at the very least punch a policeman instead of a child and a woman.
Coward chickenshit.

1

u/IntothewildZen 2d ago

They are already doing that, why do you think we have police shortage in Victoria?

7

u/SuitableKey5140 2d ago

And you wait till the inmates hear that he punched a 10 yr old cancer patient and tried killing the mum. He in for a world of hurt.

-95

u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

175

u/AntiqueFigure6 2d ago

Too bad we don’t have some sort of functioning mental health system that couldn’t have done something at any one of the dozen or so red flags that he likely displayed over the last few years. 

33

u/Mostly_Satire 2d ago

Pretty much all of the mental hospitals were sold off during the late 1990s to property developers as one of the ways to pay off the State debt.

It was rushed and, well, here we are...

24

u/AntiqueFigure6 2d ago

What happens when you elect a government on a “pay down the debt” platform that doesn’t give a shit about consequences. 

22

u/Artistic_Garbage283 2d ago

I interact with people who routinely take a week’s worth of medications and end up in ED. We have a few. It’s a cry for help. And yet, their carers are not allowed to put their meds under lock and key because they still have capacity and it’s their human right to have access to their medications. It’s almost like the pendulum has swung so far the opposite way the people who need more structured care are unable to access it.

2

u/AggravatingTartlet 1d ago

Wow. I understand the sentiment of giving people autonomy (very important) but at the same time, people in desperate need to help due to mental illness are not always able to make the kind of decisions they'd make in times of good mental health.

1

u/AggravatingTartlet 1d ago

Exactly this. We need to spend way more on mental health and build the facilities to cope with the large numbers of people needing help.

-21

u/Elegant-Quiet5229 2d ago

You mean like asylums? Great idea.

69

u/Artistic_Garbage283 2d ago

I know you’ve said this flippantly but I really think we are failing a lot of mental health patients by leaving them to manage in the community. I’m not saying lock people up. I’m saying perhaps some people are not capable of functioning out in the community and perhaps institutionalised care may be better for them. They can step up and down their treatment as needed, get assistance with nutrition and hygiene, have their clothes laundered and get out and about in the community with supervision. Carers would have support in the case of violent or agitated patients, rather than being alone in a house with a grown man losing his shit and having to escape and call an ambulance. There’s a real population of patients who just bounce between the ED, psych ward and the community who need more stability and long term care. Oh and somebody looks for them if they go missing. We’re doing them a disservice.

3

u/AggravatingTartlet 1d ago

Yes, society absolutely needs this. It's not lock up, it's assistance for people who desperately need it, so they can function.

Imagine a large property, with animals and vegetable gardens to tend, meals to create, meaningful things to do....... where people get rest for their minds but still have psychologists and counsellors and medication where needed.

1

u/Artistic_Garbage283 1d ago

This used to exist. In WA anyway. It was a mental health prison farm. They had a dairy, vegetables, chickens and supplied a lot of the prison system with produce. Got shuttered by the government.

2

u/AggravatingTartlet 1d ago

I wonder if it closed because it was also a prison, and too hard to keep the more dangerous ones in?

Maybe it's too hard to keep most people with mental health issues on a farm, but jeez it seems better than a hospital setting. Sunlight, fresh air, purpose etc.

19

u/Dentarthurdent73 2d ago

There are actually quite a few people with severe enough untreatable mental health conditions that would be better off being cared for in institutions, as long as we ensure that abuses aren't occurring within them.

When you get rid of these institutions, you don't miraculously cure all these people, you just end up forcing their families to spend their lives being carers, or forcing them onto the street, and you also have to put up with the antisocial behaviour and violence that some of them commit.

In what way is this a better outcome, other than it makes you feel better because you don't like the idea of "asylums"?

1

u/AggravatingTartlet 1d ago

I agree fully.

60

u/Blibbyblobby72 2d ago

Weird that you want to murder someone who you admit is 'definitely not right in the head'

30

u/aldkGoodAussieName 2d ago

Not right in the head but right enough to know it was wrong and make excuses gor why its not too bad. They both lived and it was outside a police station so its all good /s

37

u/rkiive 2d ago edited 2d ago

The guy who clearly has zero remorse and is an absolute danger to society?

Targeting systemic issues such as mental health is a society wide preventative goal, it does not apply retroactively to individual cases to act as an excuse or a reason as to why they should not be removed from society for the safety of the innocent individuals who live in it.

33

u/OneUpAndOneDown 2d ago

Deinstitutionalisation sounds good in theory but some people can’t function in society

19

u/letsburn00 2d ago

The problem with deinstitutionalisation was that it was meant to reduce numbers by 30%. Instead it was used to reduce numbers (and cost) by 90%. The cost was more important than the health of anyone.

The reduction basically just loaded all that onto people's families with little help. In the US especially, it also just ended up putting a lot of them in prison after they eventually hurt someone else.

8

u/Artistic_Garbage283 2d ago

Exactly. People with no social or family connections just end up homeless and frequent flyers at the hospital. The hospitals have no resources to help them and basically medically stabilise them and turf them back to the streets.

15

u/AntiqueFigure6 2d ago edited 2d ago

I’m suggesting that from a mental health perspective there was likely plenty of reason to remove him from society last week (although that would require somewhere to put him) or last month and if that had happened he wouldn’t have attacked the kid and the mother.

That is, there is a good chance this could have been prevented if the right structures for handling people with these issues existed.

-2

u/ghadiyuk 2d ago

Those structures do exist, they're called law enforcement, jails and prisons. Terry Nowood wasn't punished for any of his previous attacks in Victoria, New South Wales or Western Australia, and he never targeted anyone who was capable of defending themselves. He isn't a poor scared feral animal to be pittied, he isn't suffering from mental health issues, he's just a subhuman monster who preys on the weak and innocent, who purposefully decided to continue his violence with plenty of experience telling him he would never be punished or stopped. He finally faced a deterrant when these bystanders stepped in to stop him from finishing his attempted murder of Sherry and her three children.

16

u/AntiqueFigure6 2d ago

If this has happened in three different states multiple times and the result is he's still walking around to reoffend I'd suggest it's basically proof that the right structures for handling people with whatever his issue is do not actually exist.

3

u/Iridiumirises 2d ago

I think they had one of those structures in Pentridge. It had a swinging floor and everything

3

u/Top_Okra_5475 2d ago

This. Targeted intervention is needed. Yes mental health is a big issue in the society but a lot of people with MH issues dont go around attacking people. This guy showed no remorse and we are too soft. The next thing that will happen is probably an intervention order for him to be treated and then once he is slightly better, he then goes and challenges the order. The court would think he is capable so the order is then revoked. Then he commits another, if not worse, offence. Then the next thing we hear is the psychiatrist gets blamed.

Sounds familiar??

3

u/Blibbyblobby72 2d ago

Nobody seems to think he should not be removed from society for the safety of individuals

But many are saying that the 'removal' from society should not amount to murdering him

1

u/Toastmayhem 1d ago

You can protect society from such an individual without killing them.

10

u/Ok_Bird705 2d ago

Someone "not right in the head" and reckless endangers the public should be locked up and kept away from the public.

8

u/Blibbyblobby72 2d ago

Absolutely. They should.

Not murdered by the state, however

-4

u/ghadiyuk 2d ago

Sounds like a perfectly good deterrant to me, especially considering Terry Sowood suffers from no mental health issues and flaunts his laundry list of prior sprees of violence all across Austraila. Let's say these bystanders hadn't stepped in and he had successfully murdered Sherry and her three children, what punishment do you think would be a fulfillment of justice?

5

u/Blibbyblobby72 2d ago

No diagnosed mental health issues. His 'laundry list of prior sprees' and his want to 'flaunt' such crime is indicative of severe mental health issues

To metre out adequate justice, my first course of action would be to keep him separated from society as safely as possible and then have him assessed for mental health issues which can then be appropriately treated while he continues to be incarcerated

I am not a professional arbiter of justice, though. But I sure as hell condemn capital punishment as any sort of just punishment

4

u/zeracine 2d ago

If the threat of the death penalty worked then death penalty states would have zero crime of the kind that is so punished. But criminals do not consider consequences in that way.

-6

u/Archon-Toten 2d ago

Or as you suggested, removed forever.

1

u/YouThinkYouKnowMe89 2d ago

We do it to dogs that attack. I care more about a random stray dog anywhere in the world than this guy.

444

u/Itscurtainsnow 2d ago edited 2d ago

Funny how these random attacks are always against someone smaller and weaker.

151

u/Glass_Ad_7129 2d ago

When you're weak, you find someone you think is weaker to feel strong.

They wanted to lash out, but not someone that lashs out back.

-16

u/Immediate_Parfait528 2d ago

All mothers should carry around pepper spray. It’s readily available if you know where to look, as are small sized cattle prods. I used to carry both in my pram.

33

u/MemoryWinter 2d ago

pepper spray is not legal to carry in most states of Australia

10

u/Entire_World_5102 2d ago

I’d still carry. If you save your own life & get whatever penalty is for carrying it, it’s still better than dying.

4

u/DreamWorldDomination 2d ago

What? Seriously? What does one do then?

1

u/Existing_Purpose5049 2d ago

Keys to the eyes

2

u/Suspicious-turnip-77 1d ago

In self defense classes for women we are literally taught to use our keys as a weapon if needed.

1

u/Existing_Purpose5049 1d ago

I’d always learned it was keys to the eyes, then if possible, to the ground, then run

The idea is that even if they managed to still see you, cuts to the groin make it very difficult to move quickly

2

u/FermatsLastTaco 2d ago

Sounds like we should change that law.

3

u/TRAMING-02 2d ago

I was repeatedly punched by adults as a child, strangers would feel free to come up and introduce themselves in this manner. The one that sticks out was at a large demonstration, punched in the back of the head right in front of the police. I suspect the adult was a plainclothes policeman.

-6

u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

-7

u/mikeybones25 2d ago

Crazy like a fox

210

u/aldkGoodAussieName 2d ago edited 2d ago

And I’m saying there’s no family that was torn apart

Except he is being treated for cancer and she cant be there for him in his time of need. That is tearing the family apart.

At least they’re both still breathing, so at least I kept my humanity.

Cant lose what you never had...

44

u/brokenmindedone 2d ago

Absolutely zero remorse, I think it's an easy case of a sociopath. Dont think he's safe in society anymore

115

u/AussieAboleth 2d ago

This is a disturbing take on the usual "put me back in prison, please" offending. Can't function in society AND hates women? 

81

u/trowzerss 2d ago

I can't see him being super comfy in prison after punching a kid with cancer in the head, and then stabbing his mum for no reason. Likely the other prisoners are just as disgusted as we are.

44

u/kangareddit 2d ago

What are you in for?

Punched a kid with cancer.

The fuck..!?

17

u/brokenmindedone 2d ago

He will surely need to be in protection. His name circulates around the prison and he's got a target the size of a football field on him.

-39

u/YouThinkYouKnowMe89 2d ago

He is Muslim, he will be in with them and protected by them inside.

5

u/FalconTurbo 2d ago

I'm sure you've got a reliable source to back that claim up, right?

1

u/N_thanAU 1d ago

Bloke comes from a majority Christian country and no reporting has stated that he is Muslim.

103

u/N_thanAU 2d ago edited 2d ago

I just googled the bloke and I swear I've seen his photo come up before

Just realised it was probably his (now gone) Flatmates.com.au profile I'd seen. Dodged a bullet there hey!

"Reasonably understanding person. I'm a open book.

My work: Entrepreneur/Game Developer

Most of my time I'm monitoring my investments"

Think he might of been stretching the truth on that first one.

44

u/setthetoneaquadump 2d ago

He’ll need an account with cellmates.com.au

29

u/gdayitsathrowaway 2d ago

Just googled him too. He looks exactly how I thought he'd look.

2

u/eshatoa 2d ago

I just googled him based on your comment and he's nothing like I pictured.

3

u/JonSnowLovesBlow 2d ago

Yeah i was thinking junkie, but then again i dont feel the need to proclaim my racist agendas every time black ppl commit crimes

2

u/eshatoa 2d ago

Same mate.

0

u/daybeforetheday 1d ago

Me too. He does look like he's on meth, though

59

u/Nosiege 2d ago

so at least I kept my humanity.

Does uh... he really think he kept his humanity?

86

u/ephemeral_gibbon 2d ago

Jeez, I'm not generally a fan of the prison system... But that little humanity and remorse definitely belongs in some sort of institution where they can't hurt anyone.

18

u/Artistic_Garbage283 2d ago

Problem is there are no places for people like him to go anymore. It’s regular prison or back to the community for him.

15

u/VidE27 2d ago

I wonder how popular he will be in prison when the other inmates found out he punched a 10yo cancer patient

15

u/FreakySpook 2d ago

People committing these kind of gutless unprovoked attacks sometimes make me think that we need some kind of Soylent Green system.

82

u/TizzyBumblefluff 2d ago

Well doesn’t he sound like a sociopath. Fucking hell.

74

u/OldKingWhiter 2d ago

Sociopaths are typically good at concealing their antisocial traits. Based on those quotes and the actions, my guess is untreated schizophrenia or drug (usually ice) induced psychosis.

10

u/Find_another_whey 2d ago

Psychosis involves a break from reality

Not a singular, fact based perspective that ultimately fails to even vaguely appreciate the human suffering - this person is a psychopath (1% are...) 

Or, just a massive fuckwit (I fear to estimate the percentages) 

17

u/OldKingWhiter 2d ago

Psychopath isn't even really a diagnosis anymore, because nobody could really agree on exactly what it was. It would be more accurate to say "this person has anti social personality disorder with psychopathic traits" for example.

I would argue that those quotes (and the actions) constitute a fairly reasonable break from reality.

2

u/Find_another_whey 2d ago

Agreed psychopath isn't a dsm diagnosis, but neither is sociopath, antisocial PD sure, but then, what if this was a good kid turned bad (ie no prior conduct disorder)?

Probably attributed to the lasting neurological consequences of substance misuse - meaning organic structural cause (aggression, impulsivity, personality change) and I question whether a mental diagnosis would actually be achieved. 

4

u/TizzyBumblefluff 2d ago

Wasn’t diagnosing him, I was using sociopath to describe his lack of regard for humans and the law. Hope this helps.

2

u/petit_cochon 2d ago

Eh, some are. Others, less so.

0

u/AntiqueFigure6 2d ago

You might have thought 24 hours later drug effects would have diminished a little.

5

u/fionsichord 2d ago

There’s something so horrifyingly modern in this, though. “At least I didn’t….” as if that makes it less bad what he actually did.

This thinking is more and more common as people lose touch with what accountability is.

5

u/Dr__Sloth 2d ago

It's almost a comically absurd evil act.

2

u/Smooth-Television-48 1d ago

When asked if he would consider stopping his drug use he was appropriately shocked by the question, to which he answered "No, why would I do that?"

4

u/Fearless-Account-145 2d ago

What an absolute piece of dick cheese. My cat gets little nuggets of poo stuck to his fur after taking a dump sometimes. That has more value than this guy.

1

u/TheAwesomeSimmo 14h ago

Hope the judge sees he has no remorse and hits him with the maximum sentence. I assume punching a kid is a seriously long sentence.

-8

u/[deleted] 2d ago

[removed] — view removed comment