Three Irish Girls Attacked in Australia Over Cigarette

Source from:  belfasttelegraph.co.uk Tuesday, 14 October 2008  10/16/2008

Three Irish backpackers have become the latest victims of an unprovoked, vicious assault while travelling in Australia. The three girls from Westmeath, Galway and Dublin were attacked and badly beaten outside a take-away in the east coast town of Bundaberg. They were knocked to the ground, punched and kicked by three aboriginal girls in a row "over a cigarette". Police who viewed CCTV footage of the assault outside Hungry Tum 24-hour eatery said they could clearly see the assailants punching and kicking the victims on the ground. A spokesperson for Queensland police said the incident was a totally unprovoked attack. "Three female backpackers were accosted outside a 24-hour eatery by three 17-year-old aboriginal girls," he said. "We are unsure what caused the incident, but one of the victims did receive a cut lip from the assault." He added: "All the injuries sustained were very minor, however. The aboriginal girls in question were arrested and charged and received 14-day custodial sentences." The three attackers were also placed on 12-month probation after pleading guilty. Meanwhile, the three Irish victims and a Swedish friend have asked not to be identified, but one has described the terrifying experience. "It was all just over a cigarette," the female victim, from Galway said. "It all happened in a split second. It was fairly frightening and we're pretty shaken up." She explained: "I was pushed to the ground and they started kicking me in the head. I went to hospital and had x-rays done, just in case, because of the blows to the head, but everything is OK, thankfully. "I was living there in Bundaberg in backpacker accommodation doing my three months for my second year working holiday visa." The young girl added: "I was just finished doing that and was planning on moving on anyway, but I decided to leave much quicker than I'd planned after the incident. I'm living down on the Gold Coast now". The security footage showed how the three girls beat the backpackers after one of the tourists refused to give them cigarettes outside the store. During sentencing, magistrate Neil Lavaring said: "There has been a number of assaults and it has been in the public limelight. "There has been considerable injuries, deaths and all sorts of things." In August, Cork man David Keohane was so badly beaten in a Sydney suburb that he had to undergo facial reconstruction surgery afterwards. He remains in a medically induced coma, having recently been flown back to Ireland. Enditem