KIIS FM radio host Kyle Sandilands has slammed the police description of a man accused of throwing coffee over a nine-month-old baby at a Brisbane park.
Baby Luka had been on a picnic with his mother, in Hanlon Park, in inner south east Brisbane, when the man allegedly approached them at about midday on August 27 and poured a thermos of scalding coffee over the infant before fleeing.
Queensland police have identified the foreign national, but he has since fled overseas.
Speaking on the Kyle & Jackie O show on Tuesday, Kyle took aim at the vague and ‘woke’ description authorities provided of the man who was reported as being in his 30s or 40s and of a proportionate build with tanned skin.
The radio shock jock, 53, suggested using more detailed characteristics in a bid for the public to identify the alleged perpetrator.
‘How is there a manhunt on for this Chinese guy in Brisbane who threw the hot water over a baby, and nearly burnt the baby to death?’ Kyle raged.
‘No one said that you’re looking for an Asian man, they just said “the man fled the scene”!
‘If there’s a manhunt on, give us the description for Christ’s sake.’
Kyle Sandilands has slammed the police description of a man accused of throwing coffee over a nine-month-old baby at a Brisbane park
Kyle added listeners wouldn’t know how to identify the man if they were only tuning in to the radio for a description.
‘You’ve gotta be aware — if there’s a manhunt on, we can’t be that stupid as a society that we’re not saying whether they’re white, black, tall, skinny, fat. That’s just ridiculous,’ he continued.
The baby suffered life-threatening burns to his face, upper body and arms and has undergone four operations in Queensland Children’s Hospital.
Queensland Police raised fears last week the man may have travelled interstate or overseas before confirming on Monday he had fled the country.
The 33-year-old man was in NSW on August 28 before he flew out of Sydney Airport on August 31 on his own passport – just 12 hours before police confirmed his identity.
A warrant has since been obtained for his arrest for grievous bodily harm, which carries a possible life sentence.
Detective Inspector Paul Dalton, who described the incident as a ‘savage attack’ without an apparent motive, said the accused was ‘aware of police methodologies’ and had been ‘conducting counter-surveillance activities’.
‘This is probably one of the most complex and sometimes frustrating investigations I’ve had to be involved in and lead,’ he told reporters.
A man accused of throwing coffee on a nine-month-old baby at a Brisbane park has fled overseas with cops issuing a warrant for his arrest
The baby suffered life-threatening burns to his face, upper body and arms
Baby’s Luka’s mother and father said they were ‘devastated’ to hear the man had fled.
‘It sounds like they were very, very close in catching him, and this obviously means that we’re going to have to wait who knows how long to get justice for our son,’ she told the ABC.
‘So it’s a bit heartbreaking.’
The mother, who requested anonymity, said she had been living in ‘fear’ since it happened and didn’t want to leave the hospital because it ‘became our safe space’.
‘Returning home I had panic attacks, and still continue to do so. I do feel relief that he’s not in this country, in some sense, but I will always have fear and anxiety being out in public with my son,’ she said.
‘It’s affected my mental health for the rest of my life.’
Detective Inspector Dalton said the man was clearly ‘aware of what we (the police) do to find people’ and that cops had been stymied in their efforts when they had initially been given the wrong name.
‘It wasn’t until the first of September that we were able to put a name to the face in the CCTV,’ he said.
Detective Inspector Paul Dalton (pictured), who described the incident as a ‘savage attack’, said the accused was ‘aware of police methodologies’ and had been ‘conducting counter-surveillance activities’
‘Even at that stage, we probably didn’t have enough evidence to obtain a warrant.
‘We’ve since been to New South Wales and Victoria to gather that information, and the warrant has been granted.’
Detective Inspector Dalton said he knew which country the man had fled to but could not share that information while the investigation was still live.
He said the man had been in and out of Australia since 2019 and had been ‘lawful’ each time.
‘There’s no adverse holdings that we can find on him in Australia,’ Detective Inspector Dalton said.
He said the man was in the country on a visa and had addresses ‘across the eastern seaboard’ but not in Queensland.
The accused had been an ‘itinerant’ worker in Queensland, NSW and Victoria and police had interviewed some of his former colleagues.
Detective Inspector Dalton said the attack was the ‘most cowardly’ he had witnessed in his career.
‘A young mother and a baby sitting on the ground and you are allegedly approaching them from behind,’ he said.
Baby Luka has undergone four surgeries following the sickening, unprovoked attack
Detective Inspector Dalton said the attack was the ‘most cowardly’ he had witnessed in his career. Pictured: the suspect who has now fled overseas
‘Can you think of anything more vulnerable than that? And to take advantage of that? You’re probably right, it’s one of the most disgusting ones I’ve come across.’
Detective Inspector Dalton vowed that he would not stop until the man is caught.
‘I’ve got 30 detectives working for me. They are devastated that they missed this person by 12 hours,’ he said.
‘I think only the family would be more upset about that.’
Detective Inspector Dalton encouraged anyone with any information to come forward.
‘People may feel safe now that this person has fled Australia, to actually come forward to police,’ he said.
‘I encourage them to do that. There’ll be no judgement on you whatsoever.’
The man is described as being in his 30s or 40s and of a proportionate build with tanned skin.
He was wearing a black hat, glasses, a shirt and shorts at the time of the attack.
Police have tracked his movements after the attack to the southern Brisbane suburb of Tarragindi, where he changed his clothes outside a church.
He then caught a rideshare car into central Brisbane, before moving onto Caxton Street where the trail went cold.
