“How can we take our justice system seriously when someone can almost kill two people in a violent street attack and get a slap on the wrist with home detention?” says Darroch Ball co-leader of Sensible Sentencing Trust.

“Daniel Erst stabbed two men with a knife, one man suffering deep wounds to his spine and a collapsed lung, and the other innocent bystander being stabbed in the chest causing ‘catastrophic bleeding’. How on earth the offence of ‘wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm’ now doesn’t come with a prison sentence is beyond belief.”

“Where has the sense of justice and accountability gone that was once the foundation of our entire justice system? The safety of our community is continually being put at risk when we have courts placing these violent criminals back onto our streets.”

“Unbelievably, the reasons that were given for not imposing a stint in prison was ‘Ernt’s age, remorse, willingness to do rehab, and no prior convictions’. This is now the dangerous precedence for allowing violent knife attackers back into the community with a slap on the wrist.”

“We cannot continue to allow these sorts of offender-centric outcomes to become the norm. Our community’s safety is at risk.”

“The government needs to have legislation in place that cannot allow this to happen. Sentencing should bring justice for the victims, accountability to the offenders, and most of all ensure our community’s safety is number one priority,” says Mr Ball.

“Right now, this simply isn’t happening.”
 

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