A man accused of attacking a mother and her young child in broad daylight outside Melbourne’s police headquarters has admitted to the court that he carried out the assault.
Jerry Sowood, 27, from Sunshine West in Melbourne’s western suburbs, appeared before Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday. He is facing charges including affray, intentionally causing injury, two counts of unlawful assault, conduct endangering life and conduct endangering serious injury.
The Liberian-born aspiring rapper did not apply for bail and was remanded in custody ahead of his next court appearance, which is scheduled for September.
Sowood appeared via video link from Melbourne West Police Station, the same location where the alleged attack occurred just outside. Addressing the court directly, he said he was not trying to avoid responsibility for what happened.
‘Yeah, I’m telling 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. Her child was not taken away from her,’ he said.
‘I took the scissors and I stabbed a woman in the hand … I’m just clarifying it.’
During the hearing, Sowood refused legal representation. He also declined to see a nurse while in custody, citing ‘religious reasons’.
‘I was in body sound and mind when I did what I did,’ he told the court.
Bystanders apprehend a man after a boy and woman were allegedly stabbed in Melbourne’s CBD
‘Those three people, the kid got punched to the head. The scissors got taken out of my bag.’
The presiding magistrate tried desperately to stop the rambling Sowood, but he continued to rant.
A woman claiming to be the mother and grandmother of those allegedly attacked, who Daily Mail has chosen not to name, earlier voiced her gratitude online for those who came to her family’s aid.
‘I would like to thank your son and the other guys for helping my daughter and grandsons,’ she wrote.
‘It could have been a lot worse if they didn’t help. Thank you. It could have been a lot worse than it was. We are forever grateful.’
The mother and son, from Victoria’s Phillip Island, were on a family day trip to Melbourne, along with two other children aged 11 and 16, when they were allegedly attacked by Sowood, who was brandishing scissors.
Footage of the incident showed six passers-by and tradies pinning down the alleged attacker.
Melbourne West Police Station could be seen in the background of the footage.
Two police officers arrived soon after and took the man into custody after he had been subdued.
‘So proud of my son today and the other guys,’ one of their mothers posted online later.
While the men have been widely branded as heroes by Australians, many have expressed outrage that they were forced into action in the first place.
‘We need a proper social cohesion policy by state government, not intentional division “laws”. Every criminal act by citizens is a reflection of political failure,’ one person wrote.
‘The next question we should all ask ourselves is why do we need the corrupted government for, if we need to do their work plus pay tax,’ another added.
Just hours after the incident, Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece again hit the airwaves to insist Melbourne was ‘safe’.
‘It is the case that over the last 12 months, the crime rate in the central city has come down by 3.7 percent,’ he told 3AW’s Jacqui Felgate.
The alleged attack happened directly outside Victoria Police headquarters (pictured)
The alleged attack happened in the shadow of Victoria’s largest police station
‘But when you hear about incidents today, you know we’ve still got a long way to go, and I’m going to continue to keep pushing hard.
‘We have been operating very closely with the police on these matters. We’ve got more police on the streets than ever before.
‘At the moment, we’ve got our community safety officers on the street as well.’
Reece played down the alleged attack, declaring Melbourne was ‘a big city’.
‘We’ve also got to keep a bit of perspective here as well,’ he said.
‘You know, on a busy day, there’s more than a million people in the city, and while one, you know, criminal episode is absolutely one too many, we are a big city.
‘From time to time, we will have these terrible incidents.’
But the Lord Mayor’s comments were met with an angry backlash from locals.
Police attended to the mother and child after the alleged attack
‘This is coming an all too often regular occurrence. In the past 10 years Melbourne has fallen into the biggest s*** hole of all of Australia. No one feels safe, nor are they safe,’ one said.
‘Unfortunately in Melbourne a few heroes are dead. Melbourne is a shocking place to live,’ another wrote.
The alleged attack comes under a year after sushi chef Wan-Ting Lai, then 36, was allegedly stabbed near the intersection of Little Bourke Street and Spencer Street, in Melbourne’s CBD, on October 2.
CCTV footage of that attack allegedly showed Lauren Darul, 33, run up behind her with a knife and a soccer ball, look her in the eye and stab Ms Lai once on the right side of her chest before running away. The case is still before the courts.
Reece also declared Melbourne’s CBD was not a dangerous place after that alleged attack.
Victoria Police Superintendent Zorka Dunstan told reporters she had witnessed Tuesday’s incident from her office just upstairs.
She said three people came to the family’s aid before police arrived to arrest the attacker.
‘We had a citizen immediately intervene, who jumped onto him and just pulled him off the mum, and then the other two added assistance by grabbing him as well,’ she said.
Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece maintained Melbourne was ‘safe’ despite the latest alleged attack
‘Without the intervention, it could have been a lot worse, so we are so grateful for their assistance.’
The 10-year-old was recovering at The Royal Children’s Hospital, while his mother was at Royal Melbourne Hospital with injuries to her back and shoulders.
Supt Dunstan said the incident had also traumatised the family.
‘One of the boys was an 11-year-old, he was crying, I gave him a hug,’ she said.
