LNP claim one-punch attacker not on banned list

A TEENAGER guilty of a brutal coward punch during Schoolies is not on the banned list in Surfers Paradise, State Parliament has been told.

Caleb Maraku, 19, pleaded guilty in January and received 12 months probation for a punch which was caught on camera by a passer-by.

Maraku laughed and filmed himself with media as he left Southport Magistrates Court on January 12 following his sentence. Police later confirmed his probation would not be appealed, despite the sickening blow knocking NSW tourist and aspiring professional baseball player Taliesin O’Meara out cold.

The incident followed by the sentencing sparked an outcry about the leniency against young offenders caught for coward punching.

Mudgeeraba MP and Opposition frontbencher Ros Bates, in Question Time yesterday, asked Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk about the Schoolies attacker not being put on a banned list.

Ms Bates, in her question, said: “This offender is reportedly not on the Safe Night precinct banning list. Premier, doesn’t this make a complete mockery of the whole scan and ban policy and put Queenslanders at risk?”

Ms Palaszczuk, in her response, said she had been advised that “all outstanding court order banning notices are now on Q-Prime”.

The Opposition maintains the Q-Prime police system was separate to the “scan and ban system”. Opposition leader Deb Frecklington told the Bulletin: “It’s clear from Annastacia Palaszczuk’s response that the system hasn’t been working and ID scanning has been a complete waste of time.

“This is just another failure in Annastacia Palaszczuk’s so called commitment to reducing alcohol fuelled violence.

“Any parent would have felt sick in the stomach watching the video of this attack and then been shocked by the slap on the wrist for the offender.

“The government should be keeping Queenslanders safe, but Labor can’t even get the basics right.”