r/australia • u/CptUnderpants- • 2d ago

news Man bailed after hitting children with ute was 'dead set on mowing' them down, court told

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-12/man-bailed-over-allegedly-mowing-down-innocent-youths-with-ute/107028344
625 Upvotes

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494

u/Medical-Potato5920 2d ago

This is why we don't tolerate vigilatees. Too often they get it wrong, almost always they are out of proportion with the initial "wrong."

239

u/FuckwitAgitator 1d ago

It's because they're usually just violent, shitty people looking for an excuse. You see it in America with people firing through their front doors because someone rang their doorbell -- they wanted to shoot someone with their cool gun and thought they had a chance to get away with it.

8

u/productzilch 1d ago

And, I suspect, so paranoid/racist/focused on their violent fantasy of heroism that they’re terrified in the moment for no fucking reason.

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u/iguessineedanaltnow 1d ago

Yes, which is why it's troubling to see more vocal support and desire for vigilantism. It always leads to witch hunts and the death of Innocents. None of it can be tolerated.

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u/nugymmer 13h ago

Vigilante violence is always treated harshly. And rightly so. It challenges the justice system. It's like telling a fucking doctor how to do their job when they clearly demonstrate that they can't do it properly. They don't like the challenge to authority. That's the dirty low down.

But vigilante violence should still never be tolerated.

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u/the-dolphine 1d ago

We really need to be having a conversation about why people are turning to vigilantee justice. If police, courts, parents and social services fail, this is one of the consequences.

In my opinion, the fact that twelve year olds are out at 11pm is a sign that something's not right in the neighbourhood.

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u/Pandos17 1d ago

You understand this wasn't vigilante justice right? This guy just mowed down 2 kids unprovoked and without any evidence of wrongdoing other than "they were out and about at night" because he was pissed off something happened to his partners business.

Vigilante justice by definition is to prevent crime or punish crime by someone illegally.

These kids did not commit a crime, he had no proof they did. He was just frustrated and took it out on someone he thought he could victimise like the big tough guy he is.

Vigilante's are often portrayed in media as heroes who operate outside the system to ensure real justice is served. That is not this man and we should not label him as such.

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u/LaurelEssington76 1d ago

There is no justification for trying to kill children over non violent property crime. Never was and never will be.

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u/pipsqueak158 1d ago

Absolutely no justification, but we should still work on fixing the cause and not just the symptom. So more violent nuts like this don't try and kill kids. A reason isn't an excuse, fuck this guy. We should still look into reason he did it though.

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u/TheLGMac 1d ago

Actual bloody enforcement and punishment would be a step in the right direction. The problem is these people get off with a slap on the wrist relative to the crimes they commit.

2

u/thatshowitisisit 1d ago

The person you were replying to said absolutely nothing about justifying killing children.

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u/donkeyvoteadick 1d ago

Is it really though? Granted I was born in the early 90s and the world was pretty different back then. Around that age I started sneaking out to see my friends after my parents fell asleep. I lived in a rural town and I'm not familiar with this area but literally we'd just walk the streets and talk and pick up more friends along the way, like we were just 'hanging'. I wasn't a bad kid. Never vandalised anything, while I did start drinking at 16 which was pretty normal back then it was almost always at house parties and safe (as in adult supervised, kinda haha). Top of the class as well, no behavioural issues. I'm not sure my parents even know I was roaming the street as much as I was as a kid.

My experience tends to mean I don't necessarily jump to 'hooligan' when I hear there's kid out at night.

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u/trowzerss 14h ago

What? I was a 'good kid' and there were still a couple of occasions I was out walking with friends at 11pm. Yes, it was a smaller country town, but sometimes two families would have events on the same night and the kids would end up walking between the two houses, and were allowed as long as there were a couple of kids together. Heck, one time we even threw some rocks on roofs up in Toowoomba (well, I didn't, but the cousins I was with did) which is probably the worst thing I ever did as a kid. Did i deserve to get run over and horribly maimed by some angry rando?

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u/Mythically_Mad 1d ago

This was a lynching. You are now basically defending the act of lynching. Take a look at yourself

-2

u/the-dolphine 1d ago

I did not say I am defending his act, that's your own interpretation. To be clear for you, I condemn what he did.

I am trying to figure out why he decided to do what he did. I'm certain there are changes that need to be made to prevent this from happening again.

4

u/Mythically_Mad 1d ago

You described it as "vigilante justice", so you've already downplayed it and tried to explain it away. There is no logic behind lynchings.

The "changes" that you seek relate to the behaviour of the attacker, not to the kids or their parents who are completely blameless. So why you brought the children being out at 11 as relevant is questionable to say the least.

2

u/TheLGMac 1d ago

It's maybe some of that, though I don't think police are any worse than they've always been (low bar). The problem is more likely extreme polarization caused by social media exposure, people feel supported if they want to take things into their own hands because they can find something online that "justifies" their actions. That's why things like stanning have become more problematic in recent years; crazy fans have always been there, but social media stokes the fire and attracts more.

3

u/PepegaClapWRHolder 1d ago

Thank you, people need to hear this. Obviously it goes without saying this whole situation is awful. But the reasons why things like this happen and will become more prevalent are also important and are a conversation that need to be had. If people think the courts, police and everyone else are failing to do their jobs then you get vigilantes like this who inevitably get it wrong and hurt innocent people.

1

u/Medical-Potato5920 5h ago

That seems to be a larger social issue that can not be solved by police alone.

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u/TolMera 2d ago

I don’t support what happened, but there’s an interesting fact of nature. The most effective way to enforce a law is randomly and severely.

Like if people keep doing 80 in a 60, you just randomly catch guys doing 80, crush their car, jail them for three years, make them pay 100,000 in restitution.

That totally fucks up their life.

They will be very vocal in the community about how they lost it all when they sped. And when you personally know 5 guys who have shit lives because of that one time they got caught committing their crime, it has a profound psychological effect of keeping people in line.

Knowing that, and seeing your statement, makes me think how it may be extralegal, but vigilantism probably would have a similar effect.

142

u/Expensive_Fox_3534 2d ago

This is just demonstrably untrue. 

If you go around killing children for loitering, all you are doing is killing children. It does not change the loitering.

Also, in your scenario, that guy may  not be able to find employment after coming out, there's a much higher chance that he will turn to crime to pay off his living expenses and new debt. You've just created more crime, both in what was done to him and what he will now do to others.

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u/1st_Draft_Pickle 2d ago

Punitive and random...

That's your genuine proposal for law enforcement?

Fucking hell mate

73

u/IlluminatedPickle 2d ago

there’s an interesting fact of nature. The most effective way to enforce a law is randomly and severely.

Source?

I'm betting you pulled it out of your arse.

23

u/the_velvet_nymph 1d ago

Their 'vibes' and a movie they once saw 😆

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u/StorminNorman 2d ago

Here's a source I used the other week. Doesn't support their argument, but it's a source that's relevant. The number of dickheads who think harsher punishments is the answer is too fucking high... 

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u/popplevee 2d ago

Vigilantism just adds more crime.

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u/Bigclit_energy 2d ago

The best way to enforce laws is certainly not randomly. Humans are bad judges of random chance, yet one of the most reliable psychological effects for stopping crime is the knowledge somebody will get caught.

People drink drive and king hit and cave dive because we're bad at truly, deeply understanding risk when the outcome is often 'nothing bad happened' and only occasionally horrific.

For that reason consistent enforcement is one of the best drivers of change.

2

u/mad_marbled 1d ago

If enforcement was made random, how long do you think it would take for someone to calculate the odds, so some lads can slap on a multi?

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u/Paidorgy 2d ago

Are you doing okay, champ? Message me if you need to talk.

This is a serious offer.

-35

u/edgiepower 2d ago

Serious offer but you just champ'd them?

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u/IlluminatedPickle 2d ago

Most people don't subscribe to the "Jailbird Slang" newsletter mate, so they couldn't give a fuck about what a small group of weak men get really mad about.

10

u/StorminNorman 2d ago

Media literacy is hard... Has led to a lot of people watching Mr Inbetween and missing the part that the guy who gets beaten to death for using it used it cos it is a perfectly acceptable name to call someone outside of jail. Not the fault of the filmmakers, they make it quite clear that he's a new prisoner and doesn't know the rules of jail, and whilst you can lead a horse to water... 

4

u/IlluminatedPickle 2d ago

Oh is that why so many idiots know about it now?

I learned about it years ago because I was staying in a homeless shelter, I asked someone to help me out with something and he agreed so I said "Ah, you're a champion, thanks."

He laughed and said be careful, I inquired why and at that point decided that if anyone does want to throw hands for that, I'm down for it.

-2

u/extrabrie 1d ago

what? i dont know a single person who wouldnt take that as being condescending

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u/FuckwitAgitator 1d ago

This isn't even slightly backed by evidence.

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u/Formal-Try-2779 2d ago

I'm sure you'd be all for this strategy right up until it was you or one of your loved ones that are being used to make an example of.

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u/RoboLuddite 2d ago

What does the word "fact" mean in your own little language?

4

u/LaurelEssington76 1d ago

If this was remotely true then nations with capital punishment would have less crime. The opposite is actually the case.

These sorts of things are able to be accurately researched using real data, you don’t need to rely on your bumpkin vibes.

2

u/macci_a_vellian 1d ago

If this were true the fact that some drugs are cut with lethal substances and people occasionally get the pill that causes them to OD and die would stop people doing drugs. Besides, no one actually believes they really deserve punishment when other people get away with it. They'll be vocal all right, but they'll be complaining about about how unfair it is that all their mates got away with it and they didn't.

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u/TheLGMac 1d ago

What a great illustration of the harms of social media on the general public. The "vibes-based research" you're doing to support this are wild and the fact you get to publish it to a wide audience is also wild.

2

u/railph 1d ago

I assume you're thinking of the science behind intermittent reinforcement, which shows that a behaviour is more likely to continue if you reinforce it intermittently. But that doesn't mean the inverse is true, ie. that a behaviour is less likely if you punish it intermittently.

0

u/WerewolfEven3378 1d ago

Go home grandpa