Man stabbed in dawn Burleigh knife attack
A MAN will front court today charged with attempted murder, accused of stabbing another man in a Burleigh Heads public toilet next to one of the city’s most popular venues.
Queensland Police and Queensland Ambulance services were called to what was described as a “wounding” on Goodwin Terrace near the Burleigh Pavilion about 5.40am on Monday. Police allege a 31-year-old man attacked a 43-year-old Surfers Paradise man from behind, stabbing and slashing him with a knife.
The 31-year-old, who is understood to have no fixed residential address, ran from the scene after being confronted by passers-by.
The man was located in Palm Beach on Twenty Third Ave at approximately 6.10am, where he was taken into custody and a knife was seized. The Surfers Paradise man suffered lacerations to his head and hands and was transported in a serious but non-life-threatening condition to the Gold Coast University Hospital.
Police say the men were not known to each other.
The 31-year-old man is expected to appear before Southport Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
The stabbing occurred as the 2022 Gold Coast Open is being held at Burleigh, marking the return of elite-level surfing to Queensland.
Emergency vehicles were seen parked around public toilets near the Burleigh Pavilion.
Photos provided by a reader, who asked not to be identified, showed paramedics hard at work and police officers speaking to witnesses.
A year-long police “wanding” trial to locate bladed weapons such as knives was conducted in the Gold Coast’s safe-night precincts. It ended on April 30.
The trial – which uncovered knives, saws, screwdrivers and axes – was confined to Broadbeach and Surfers Paradise and did not cover Burleigh and other parts of the city’s southern region.
It resulted in more than 120 charges being laid against 95 people after more than 1491 searches.