Crime expert’s grim admission about international manhunt for coward who threw scalding coffee on a baby in a Brisbane park

The mother of a baby who was doused with scalding coffee in a public park is struggling to leave her home after the attack, with a crime expert warning that the perpetrator may never face justice.

Nine-month-old Luka was picnicking with his mother in Hanlon Park, Brisbane, when the man approached them around midday on August 27.

Since the random attack three weeks ago, Luka has undergone seven operations.

He suffered severe burns to his chest, neck and face after a foreigner threw a full thermos of nearly boiling coffee over him and then immediately fled.

His mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, says her life will never be the same and she still struggles to leave the house.

“I went out yesterday for the first time since then to do something for myself by myself… and I was having a panic attack the whole time and was upset,” she said. told ABC.

‘Luka may not remember, but we all do.’

An international law specialist at the Australian National University, Professor Donald Rothwell, told the publication that the 33-year-old suspect could be “difficult to locate” as he fled the country within days of the incident.

Nine-month-old Luka was picnicking with his mother in Hanlon Park, Brisbane, when the man approached them around midday on August 27

The main suspect, a 33-year-old foreigner, was able to flee the country on August 30

Professor Rothwell warned the case may never be solved as the foreigner had already left Sydney Airport the day before police identified him on August 31.

“If someone doesn’t want to be found – and often they don’t want to be found because they’ve fled Australia, because they’re a suspect or a fugitive in these kinds of cases – then it can be very difficult to find them,” Professor Rothwell said.

He added that unless the man comes forward voluntarily, there is nothing detectives can do to have him extradited back to Queensland.

Professor Rothwell added that numerous factors, such as the man’s notoriety and his current whereabouts, could pose obstacles to the “legal and political process that needs to be followed”.

The extradition process “can be challenging and time-consuming” for police, he added.

If the suspect has fled to a country that does not have an extradition treaty with Australia, this could also ‘present an additional set of challenges’.

As the manhunt for the perpetrator continues, Luka’s mother says the family’s life has changed forever.

Luka suffered life-threatening injuries and remains in Queensland Children’s Hospital.

According to his mother, his recovery is difficult because of his young age.

Doctors told his family that if the same thing happened to an adult, they would be able to offer a skin graft right away, which is not so easy to do with a baby.

Detective Inspector Paul Dalton said the main suspect fled the country less than 12 hours before police were able to identify him.

Officers will not say which country the man fled to, fearing it would jeopardize their ongoing investigation.

Luka has life-threatening burns to his chest, neck and face and has so far undergone seven operations at the Queensland Children’s Hospital

CCTV footage showed the man running through several suburbs during his escape

Luka’s mother told the publication that the thought of her son’s attacker never facing trial made her “sick.”

The “heartless and unprovoked” attack has changed her family’s lives “forever” and they will be “furious” if the man is never caught, she said.

CCTV footage shows the suspect fleeing on foot through several Brisbane suburbs after allegedly emptying his thermos flask, while Luka’s mother remained in the park screaming for help.

It is important that the perpetrator is caught because “it is not fair that he gets away with this and can live a normal life, when he has tarnished our lives forever,” the mother added.

Luka will spend much of his childhood caring for his scars, but his mother hopes Tuesday’s surgery will be Luka’s last.

Doctors may need to transplant skin from Luka’s thigh in the near future.