Townsville: Fed-up father in crime-ridden town unleashes brutal message for the ‘useless government’ after his partner and babies were surrounded by teens in an attempted broad daylight carjacking at a busy shopping centre
Townsville: Fed-up father in crime-ridden city unleashes brutal message for ‘useless government’ after his partner and babies were surrounded by teenagers during attempted carjacking in broad daylight at busy shopping center
A furious father in a crime-ridden city has issued a strong message for the ‘useless’ government after a gang of youths tried to carjack his wife and children in broad daylight.
Chris Thurley feared his two-year-old and six-month-old children could have been injured or killed when thugs surrounded their car at Willows Shopping Center in Townsville on Wednesday morning.
His partner was waiting for him in the busy car park, caring for their youngest when a stolen white Audi pulled up next to her and the occupants tried to enter.
The quick-thinking mother jumped into her car and locked the doors.
After the ordeal, a fed-up Mr Thurley turned his phone camera on himself and recorded an impassioned plea about inaction on youth crime, ending with a direct call to the Queensland Premier.
“Annastacia Palaszczuk, you need to do something about this before someone fucking dies,” Mr Thurley said.
His partner was waiting for him in the busy car park, tending to their youngest when a stolen white Audi (pictured) pulled up next to her and the occupants tried to enter.
‘I have a six-month-old and a two-year-old in the car and they just wanted to take the car.
“If my wife hadn’t jumped back in the car and locked the door when they pulled up next to her, my kids could be out there, my kids could be hurt and my kids could be dead.
“The government doesn’t care.”
Mr Thurley filmed the stolen Audi stopping at a petrol station across the road from the shopping centre, where the gang ‘terrorised’ staff and the public and stole fuel.
There have been several sightings in Townsville of the Audi, which was reportedly stolen from a home in Belgian Gardens on Monday.
“They’ve been traveling in this car for four days,” Mr Thurley claimed.
“(Their) parents don’t care. The government doesn’t care about innocent people.
“This is our government… allowing this to happen. They have the power to stop it, but they just don’t.
‘It’s an absolute joke and the police are powerless to do anything about it. They shouldn’t fucking do that, it’s an absolute joke.’
Chris Thurley feared his two- and six-month-old sons could have been injured or killed when thugs surrounded their car at Townsville’s Willows Shopping Center on Wednesday morning.
Mr Thurley addressed Annastacia Palaszczuk directly in his video
Queensland has been caught in the grip of a wave of youth crime, with car thefts, knife crime and violent home burglaries common in recent years.
Worrying police data shows that children between the ages of 10 and 17 commit more crimes than the general population, with the percentage of young people offending now at 69 percent.
Even more disturbing data shows that an average of one Queenslander per month will be killed by a youth criminal by 2023.
Queensland Police told Daily Mail Australia they are “aware of reports that the occupants of the vehicle were involved in a disturbance at the shopping centre, but no formal complaint has been made.”
“Police were called to a shopping center in Thuringowa Central at approximately 9.15am on October 4, following reports that the stolen vehicle had been sighted and that an occupant had threatened a person before leaving the scene,” the statement said.
“The vehicle was subsequently involved in the theft of fuel from a Kirwan petrol station at around 10am.”
The vehicle and its occupants had not been located as of 10 p.m. Wednesday, police confirmed.
“Police are appealing to anyone who has information or may have sighted the vehicle to come forward.”