{"id":869469,"date":"2026-08-26T21:20:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T21:20:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/869469\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T21:20:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T21:20:17","slug":"melbourne-cbd-stabbing-accused-appears-in-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/869469\/","title":{"rendered":"Melbourne CBD stabbing: Accused appears in court"},"content":{"rendered":"

Updated August 26, 2026 \u2014 7:05pm,first published 5:11pm<\/p>\n

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The 10-year-old boy who was punched in the head in a random attack outside police headquarters in the CBD has brain cancer and was visiting Melbourne for treatment.<\/p>\n

The boy underwent additional MRI scans to see if the assault caused any extra damage or inflammation around where the tumour is, his uncle said.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust absolutely disgusted,\u201d the boy\u2019s uncle said, \u201cThey had just arrived in Melbourne, they were going to the hotel.\u201d<\/p>\n

The man accused of assaulting the boy and repeatedly stabbing the boy\u2019s mother<\/a> launched an extraordinary tirade, telling a Melbourne court \u201cat least they\u2019re both still breathing\u201d.<\/p>\n

Jerry Sowood, 27, from Sunshine West, shouted at times during a Melbourne Magistrates\u2019 Court hearing on Wednesday at which he refused to answer the magistrate\u2019s questions and told the court there was \u201cno need to hide\u201d his offending.<\/p>\n

\u201cI punched the kid in the head, I took the scissors, I stabbed the woman in the head,\u201d Sowood said as he appeared via video link from custody. \u201cThere\u2019s no need to hide it. At least they\u2019re both still breathing, so at least I kept my humanity.<\/p>\n

\"AA 10-year-old was punched outside of Police HQ.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m telling you what I did. And I\u2019m saying there\u2019s no family that was torn apart. Even though I did what I did, the mum did not lose her child. A child was not taken away from her. It was outside the police station.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sowood was arrested on Tuesday afternoon after he allegedly punched the 10-year-old boy outside Victoria Police\u2019s Spencer Street headquarters, and then placed the child\u2019s mother in a headlock and stabbed her with a pair of scissors before passers-by intervened.<\/p>\n

Dressed in a grey T-shirt with a large sailing boat motif, Sowood refused to speak to a lawyer before Wednesday\u2019s hearing, the court heard. He told the magistrate he would not see a nurse while in custody, and he refused to say whether he had any medical conditions.<\/p>\n

\"PolicePolice officers arrest Jerry Sowood on Wednesday.Twitter: Junnie0618<\/p>\n

\u201cI was in a mental state of mind when I did what I did,\u201d Sowood said.<\/p>\n

Police said the 46-year-old woman was visiting Melbourne from Phillip Island with her 10-year-old son and two other children when the random attack occurred, ending only when several witnesses intervened.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust instinct, no thoughts, no nothing, just people in trouble,\u201d Brian Bradley said, a good Samaritan who helped restrain the suspect.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe mother of the boy was stabbed during the attack.<\/p>\n

The mother is in the Royal Melbourne Hospital recovering from a fractured leg and injuries to her back and shoulders, while her son recovers at the Royal Children\u2019s Hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s really struggling at the moment,\u201d the boy\u2019s uncle said, \u201cShe can\u2019t be with her son. It\u2019s traumatic enough [that he\u2019s] fighting cancer.<\/p>\n

Sowood has been charged with affray, intentionally causing injury, multiple counts of assault, conduct endangering life, and conduct endangering serious injury.<\/p>\n

His next court date is set for November.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u2018A bit frightening\u2019<\/p>\n

Barista Phoebe Maw, who works at a coffee shop near the police headquarters in Spencer Street, was shocked to hear about Tuesday\u2019s attack.<\/p>\n

The 29-year-old recently moved to Melbourne from Sydney\u2019s west and felt the city was less safe for young women compared with where she grew up.<\/p>\n

The cafe worker said it was common for people to come into the shop affected by drugs or mental illness and to behave erratically.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s honestly a bit frightening because we work so close,\u201d she said. \u201cThere are days when it\u2019s really crazy, but there are some days when it\u2019s nothing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like it\u2019s getting worse.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PhoebePhoebe Maw (left) and Sue Yang.Jason South <\/p>\n

Maw and her colleague, Sue Yang, 28, both pointed to a rise in visible homelessness and drug addiction near and around Southern Cross Station.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery morning when I go to the bathroom at Southern Cross, I always encounter a lot of them [drug-affected people] … there\u2019s a lot of police walking around, but I feel like people aren\u2019t scared of them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Since the pandemic, retail workers have noted a sharp increase in antisocial behaviour around the Spencer Street strip from a small group of repeat offenders despite a strengthening of bail laws. <\/a><\/p>\n

Security guard Ahmad Fawad Safi said he had witnessed hundreds of thefts and confrontations at the strip\u2019s Coles supermarket, often involving the same person, since he started working there a month ago.<\/p>\n

\"MawMaw and Yang said they had noticed an increase in crime since last year. Jason South<\/p>\n

The 35-year-old said he was assaulted by a man accused of stealing a two-pack of Red Bull after he chased him outside the shop last week.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe started attacking me and punching me in the face,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

7-Eleven worker Mahipal said he was assaulted last month after confronting a man who walked out of the store without paying for a coffee, though he said he did not file a police complaint because he assumed the thief would be released quickly.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel like [calling police] is a waste of time,\u201d Mahipal said, claiming he witnessed theft on average every 20 minutes at the store.<\/p>\n

Commercial operations manager Ali, who lives in Craigieburn with his wife and two young children, said he thought crime was a bigger issue in the city\u2019s west but noted the CBD had grown increasingly volatile.<\/p>\n

He said a lot had changed since his family moved to Clifton Hill from Lebanon in the \u201990s.<\/p>\n

\u201cHouse prices, rental prices, cost of living \u2013 everything goes up and people\u2019s wages never do. Mental health [issues have] increased because of the pandemic \u2013 there\u2019s crime everywhere to be honest.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPremier, you\u2019re new in the job. Get off [your] butt, do something,\u201d the boy\u2019s uncle said.<\/p>\n

Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"CarlaCarla Jaeger<\/a> is a journalist for The Age. Got a tip? Email carla.jaeger@theage.com.au or message carlajaeger.62 on Signal.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updated August 26, 2026 \u2014 7:05pm,first published 5:11pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":869470,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-869469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=869469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869469\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/869470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=869469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=869469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=869469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}