Court frees man on bail
Alleged armed robbery
A man accused of threatening to stab three children in an alleged attempted armed robbery at a Gold Coast train station has been freed on bail.
Hikairo Mace Ataria Mohi faced Southport Magistrates Court on Tuesday, where he was charged with three counts of attempted armed robbery.
It is alleged the 19-year-old targeted three boys aged 14, 14, and 12 at Helensvale train station just after 4.30pm Monday.
The court was told Mr Mohi allegedly demanded personal items from the trio and threatened to stab them.
The children immediately fled and called triple-0.
Mr Mohi was allegedly found with a knife when taken into custody at the scene, the court was told.
It was heard during the Southport man’s bail application that he was under both probation and parole orders at the time of the alleged attempted robbery.
Duty lawyer Chris Schrader said his client strongly disputed the allegations and likely faced lengthy court proceedings.
Mr Schrader said the New Zealand-born man had lived in Australia for four years and would be able to stay on the northern Gold Coast with family while on bail.
Magistrate Louisa Pink said Mr Mohi should have “no illusions” that being convicted and sentenced to a lengthy jail term could put him at risk of deportation.
Ms Pink granted the young man’s bail, saying the strength of the evidence against him seemed to be mixed and that he had so far complied with his existing probation order.
Mr Mohi must not contact his alleged victims or go within 100m of the Helensvale train station as conditions of his bail.
His case will return to court on April 30.
Speaking earlier on Tuesday morning, Superintendent Peter Miles said the young people allegedly threatened by the man were being offered help to recover from the incident.
“These are good kids,” he said. “They were just at the railway line and then they allegedly get approached by this male and threatened.
“They will be given referrals to agencies to help them through this situation.
“Twelve years old, that’s pretty young – you don’t want to be dealing with that at such a young age.”