An ex-police officer has warned that the man who threw boiling coffee on a nine-month-old may never face justice. Nine-month-old Luka was horrifically burned by a stranger during a picnic in Brisbane’s Hanlon Park on August 27, 2024.
The attacker, unknown to the group, cruelly poured a Thermos over the helpless child and fled. The baby is still undergoing regular surgery on his painful burns nearly a year after the incident. Pictures taken just seconds before show the youngster happily enjoying the picnic and playing with a toy truck, while chilling images taken afterwards show him swaddled in bandages and crying in pain. His mum says she was left traumatised by the incident, saying “I couldn’t protect him”.
The attacker, a 33-year-old man, fled Australia and is believed to have returned to China. However, he is protected from extradition under Chinese law. Australian authorities, who have been pushing China to return the man for prosecution, say they are being ignored and their requests are constantly rejected. It comes as police insist they are “working hard” to try and find the attacker nearly a year later. Former Australian Federal Police officer Dr David Craig has urged China to take the attack “seriously” and renewed calls for the suspect to be extradited.
He told local media: “The problem is how seriously China is going to take it. China can actually agree to extradite one of its citizens back to Australia. However, it has a mechanism where it can refuse to do so and that’s what it’s using.”
The former cop believes the best chance of justice may be for the man to be prosecuted under domestic law in China. “There are comparable laws, and China should be able to do that,’ he said.
“If I were a Chinese-Australian, I would be embarrassed by this – that the Chinese government seems to think it’s acceptable for a person to throw hot water on a baby, flee the country, and not face any justice.”
Dr Craig admits the man would have been prosecuted in Australia had the crime been committed in China.
“That should happen over there in China,” he added. “We have a criminal prima facie case against this person for a horrible assault causing permanent damage on an Australian citizen. The Chinese government can prosecute him under domestic law in China.”
He believes the random attack and the lack of justice are something Australians “cannot accept.”
“‘It’s not the sort of justice we accept. And I would hope that the Chinese government would feel some embarrassment, or some need, to actually see justice is served,” Dr Smith added.
An “acceptable” alternative would be for Beijing authorities to prosecute the suspect in China.
“That way they’re not causing any diplomatic issues,” Dr Smith said. “There are comparable laws in China for assaulting minors, which is what this person allegedly did. So, prosecuting him in China would be a satisfactory outcome. ‘To have no outcome is not acceptable.”
Recalling the horrific incident, friends of Luca’s mum said she yelled “my baby, my baby”, describing the incident as a “callous, random attack” on a baby who “does not deserve this pain and suffering”.
Reliving her ordeal, the mother told Nine News: “I’m just having flashbacks all the time about what happened and I wish that he had poured the coffee over me. I don’t know who would think it is okay to harm a little, innocent baby.”
