Multiple teens charged after alleged wild brawl at Gold Coast shopping centre, man in 60s assaulted
Police swarmed the Helensvale Westfield shopping centre on the Gold Coast on Thursday afternoon in response to the alleged brawl.
Footage obtained by 7 News Queensland shows the youths being marched handcuffed through the centre, escorted by police who tower over them
In a statement, Queensland Police said a 13-year-old girl from Pimpama has been charged with assault, assaulting a police officer and affray.
A 12-year-old Upper Coomera boy has been charged with affray.
Both will front Southport Childrens Court on July 9.
Police allege the six children were asked to leave a shop 'due to their behaviour', just before 2.40pm.
'A 56-year-old man followed the group after observing their actions,' a Queensland Police spokesman said.
'After exiting the store, one girl from the group allegedly physically assaulted the man, resulting in security officers becoming involved.'
The man was later taken to hospital with facial injuries.
'Police arrived a short time later and it will be alleged the same girl struck a police officer to the back of the head during attempts to restrain her.'
The police officer received minor injuries and did not need to be taken to hospital.
Police also charged four girls, aged between 11 and 13, with affray. One of those girls, aged 11, was also charged with assault.
These offences were dealt with under youth justice laws, which provides alternatives to court, including cautions and diversion programs.
'Detectives from the Gold Coast Child Protection and Investigation Unit are reviewing CCTV footage to identify any further offences,' a Queensland Police spokesman said.
'Police urge anyone who witnessed the incident and has not yet spoken with investigators to come forward.
'Investigations are ongoing.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
SBS Australia
3 hours ago
- SBS Australia
Two charged in spiritual blessing scams
Two charged in spiritual blessing scams Published 4 July 2025, 7:08 am Two people have been charged after allegedly targeting people of Asian background in spiritual blessing scams. New South Wales Police set up Strike Force Sentinel in April following reports the scams had been taking place across parts of Sydney since July 2023. The scammers are accused of exploiting the community's cultural fears before tricking them into handing over money and valuables.
News.com.au
3 hours ago
- News.com.au
Alleged childcare pedophile Joshua Brown's resume, old jobs at dojo and dance studio revealed
Alleged Melbourne childcare pedophile Joshua Brown has worked at a dance studio and karate centre, according to his resume. A Current Affair on Friday reported Mr Brown, 26, previously worked as an 'instructor' at Shindo Karate in Hoppers Crossing from 2013 to 2017, with his resume – exclusively obtained by the network – detailing he taught children during his time there. However, a spokesman for Melbourne's Shindo Karate association told NewsWire that Mr Brown was a student, never an instructor, and never would have been among children without parents and an actual instructor nearby. 'He never played a role in instruction, instructing the kids,' the spokesman said. 'And at no point whatsoever was he ever under lack of supervision; he was a student and there's always been accredited instructors, i.e. police officers, that work in the environment.' 'At no point was he ever left alone with children. At no point (have) children or parents come to us with any concerns.' On the resume, Mr Brown said he has done admin work at youth dance centre Dance Network in Melbourne's southwest since 2019. NewsWire has contacted the centre for comment, and is not suggesting Mr Brown has been accused of wrongdoing while employed at either the dance centre or the dojo. Mr Brown, 26, has been charged with 70 child sex offences after he allegedly abused eight children at a Point Cook childcare centre in southwest Melbourne. It is alleged some children were as young as five months. Parents and caregivers of 1200 children have been directed to get their kids tested for sexually transmitted infections. Police announced the charges on Tuesday, saying they were investigating Mr Brown's employment at 20 Melbourne childcare centres. They also took the unusual step of applying for Mr Brown's name suppression to be lifted, to inform families with children at the affected centres to get their young ones tested. Revelations about Mr Brown's alleged offending, and the number of childcare centres he worked at, have sparked an immediate response from politicians, despite years-old calls for national reform to working with children checks. Federal Education Minister Jason Clare said when parliament resumed this month, new laws would be introduced to allow fraud investigators to conduct random, unannounced visits at childcare centres without a warrant, and without the need to be accompanied by police. Separate laws would also allow the federal government, which currently provides $16bn of annual funding to centres, to scrap payments to places which do not meet standards. State and federal education ministers will meet to discuss how CCTV cameras can be best used to monitor childcare centres, and the national attorney-generals will work out better information sharing regimes when they meet in August. Many of these reforms were recommended by the 2015 Royal Commission into Institutionalised Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
SBS Australia
5 hours ago
- SBS Australia
'Fly in, fly out criminals' preying on elderly in $3 million 'blessing scams' saga
NSW police have charged two people over their alleged involvement in a 'spiritual blessings scam' predominantly targeting Asian communities and elderly women. NSW Police Detective Superintendent Guy Magee said dozens more people are under investigation and labelled the scammers "FIFO (fly in, fly out) criminals" who come to Australia from China for short stints. "They swarm like a pack of hyenas," Magee said. "It's their own culture they have inside knowledge of ... they capitalise on the vulnerabilities of that community around superstition", Magee said. A woman has been charged over allegedly targeting people with a blessings scam in Parramatta, Sydney. Source: Getty / imamember/Getty Images Police allege a 63-year-old woman, who they claim had flown into Australia from China with the intent to scam more people, attempted to defraud a 77-year-old woman of jewellery and money. A man allegedly connected to the scam was arrested at Brisbane airport while attempting to return to China. Over 80 incidents of spiritual blessing scams have been reported to police and an estimated $3 million in cash and valuables has been stolen. More than 50 people are believed to be involved in the scam and 11 arrest warrants have been issued. What are spiritual blessing scams? Spiritual blessing scammers approach victims in public, often working in pairs or groups. They will ask a victim if they know a spiritual healer and escalate the conversation, telling the victim their family are in danger and they will need to seek a spiritual blessing. Often they threaten that the person or their family will be seriously injured if they don't have their wealth blessed. They tell the victim they need to put their cash and jewellery in a bag and have the bag blessed by a spiritual healer. The bag is then returned empty. The reported scams have taken place in multiple areas of Sydney including Ryde, Campsie, Cabramatta, Burwood and Hornsby. Police say people are likely to have under-reported the issue due to embarrassment over being tricked. Earlier this year Victorian police said scammers had stolen $200,000 from elderly victims in the Box Hill area through spiritual blessing scams. 'Isolated, vulnerable' victims Jane Lu is a senior executive officer at Chinese Australian Services Society, an organisation that provides settlement services for Chinese people in Australia. She says the service regularly receives requests to assist people who have been targeted by spiritual blessing scams. "These female victims, most of them are the main carer for their family," she told SBS Chinese. "Most of them are very isolated and face language barriers in Australia. In Chinese culture these women handle the family's savings and they are targeted because scammers know they will have cash saved at home." Lu said they are also targeted because of their spiritual beliefs and desire to protect their families. "[In traditional Chinese culture] we have beliefs that we trust spirits or the ghost exists in another world," she said. "When someone tells you that your son or daughter will be hurt by the spirits, they try their best to protect their kids". Lu said victims are often very embarrassed and feel that shame has been brought on their whole family, and can find it difficult to seek help or speak to police. How to avoid blessing scams Lu said it's important that people are connected to family and community and that younger family members warn elderly members about scams. Police have cautioned people against speaking to strangers who ask them for directions to spiritual healers, to not bring them home or hand over any valuables to a stranger.
