A pair of teenagers who invaded Wallabies legend Toutai Kefu’s home and stabbed him and his wife have been jailed for seven years, with no convictions recorded for eight years.
On Thursday, Judge Peter Davis said the couple must serve half their sentence before they can be released following their hearing at the Supreme Court in Brisbane.
This means that one of the children could be free in six months.
The judge compared the interior of the Wallabies legend’s family home in Coorparoo to a “war zone”, with police photographs showing blood “spattered and smeared” on the property.
Kefu’s wife Rachel, 48, slipped on the bloody floor as she fought for her life, while the former rugby star suffered a “life-threatening” injury after being stabbed in the stomach.
Crown prosecutor David Finch argued the teenagers should be jailed for more than the maximum 10 years because of the “egregious” nature of their act, which he placed in the “worst category” of offence.
The teenagers entered the home in the early morning of August 16, 2021, armed with large knives with the purpose of stealing vehicles.
“If anyone wakes up, just stab them,” the teens told their two accomplices as they talked in a stolen Hyundai outside the Kefu family home before going inside.
The two teenagers who almost killed Wallabies legend Toutai Kefu have been jailed
Kefu and his wife Rachel (pictured) were victims of a terrifying home invasion that nearly left their family dead in August 2021.
Rachel Kefu disturbed the intruders at 3:10 a.m. and her screams woke her husband Toutai, who jumped over a railing from the upstairs bedroom to defend his wife.
Both teens attacked him, but only one stabbed him in the chest. The knife penetrated 25 mm into his liver and caused a life-threatening wound.
The other attacker attacked Rachel, cutting her arm to the bone with a sickle after they offered him the keys to her car, giving them the chance to leave the house.
‘We want the car keys or we will hurt her,’ they said at the time of the attack.
The couple’s son Joshua, who was 21 at the time, also suffered deep cuts to his back and arm, as well as a dislocated shoulder, where his 18-year-old daughter Madison’s hand was cut.
“The sickle literally cut Ms Kefu to the bone, that is, apart from the fact that it looks like a pretty wicked weapon,” Judge Davis said.
“The offender wielding the sickle kept it in his possession at all times,” Mr Finch said.
The criminals planned to drive the two stolen cars to the Gold Coast, where they would race them.
The couple was initially charged with attempted murder, but the charges were reduced following a plea deal.
The teenagers have been sentenced to seven and eight years, but no convictions were recorded.
The scene found by police on the property was described as a “war zone.”
Both juveniles pleaded guilty to seven charges, including four counts of malicious act with intent, theft and unlawful use of a motor vehicle.
One of the teens pleaded guilty to two more charges, including assaulting Ben Cannon, a juvenile justice activist and neighbor of the Kefu family who came to their rescue.
The court heard how the first teenager was bullied at school due to his Tourette’s syndrome and suffered suicidal thoughts after experimenting “with substances”, as well as his inability to continue playing tennis due to injury.
The teenager apologized for his crimes but said he was aware his actions could not be undone.
The second teenager was born in Burundi, East Africa, and fled his country to avoid witnessing domestic violence between his parents. He then began smoking cannabis and drinking alcohol after interacting with unwanted people.
He admitted in court that it was normal for those in his group to carry weapons to defend themselves.
One of the teenagers waiting outside the house was sentenced in state Juvenile Court in February and walked free with his sentence already served.
The other boy who did not enter the house was sentenced to two years and six months in prison and served 50 per cent of that sentence by an independent judge, Ian Dearden.
