'Devastating': grocery owner stabbed by alleged thief
A grocery store owner has allegedly been stabbed to death while confronting a teenage thief in an incident a territory leader has described as devastating for the community.
The 71-year-old man was fatally stabbed at the Friendly Grocer Nightcliff Supermarket in Darwin on Wednesday after confronting an 18-year-old who was allegedly stealing from the shop.
The store owner asked the teenager to return the items, but the teenager allegedly stabbed him with an edged weapon before fleeing on a bicycle, Northern Territory police said.
Patrons provided first aid and emergency services carried out CPR, but the 71-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene.
The teenager has since been arrested by police but he is yet to be charged.
In a Facebook post, Northern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said her government's current focus was on the welfare of the man's family.
"It is devastating that we are at this point again," she said.
"Every Territorian knows that this is not okay and we reinforce our commitment that everything is on the table."
The death comes about two years after the murder of bottle shop worker Declan Laverty, who was killed while on shift at a BWS near Darwin airport.
His killing by a man who was out on bail prompted a tightening of laws under Ms Finocchiaro's government.
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"This is about giving territorians more choice when it comes to personal safety," the chief minister said. Opposition Leader Selina Uibo said the initiative was an "admission of failure" by Ms Finocchiaro and her government. "They are now telling territorians to defend themselves because the government cannot do the job," she told reporters on Wednesday. The government should invest more in policing if it was serious about community safety "rather than handing out pepper spray and telling territorians to hope for the best", Ms Uibo said. She said broad consultation and regulations would be needed to ensure there were no unintended consequences of the trial. The Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory said allowing the public sale of pepper spray would do nothing to improve community safety and instead put more lives at risk. "It is incredibly misleading to suggest that equipping the community with a weapon is any kind of solution to community safety," CEO John Paterson said. "Weaponising people and allowing wider access to a harmful substance like OC spray won't fix violence - it will fuel it." Dr Paterson said the decision was especially dangerous for vulnerable people, including those sleeping rough, who were disproportionately targeted and criminalised, many of them Aboriginal. Data shows the NT has an incarceration rate three times greater than anywhere else in Australia and has the highest reoffending rate, with six out of 10 prisoners returning to jail within two years of release. A landmark trial allowing the public sale of pepper spray will be introduced in a crime-hit territory, but opponents have issued stinging rebukes. The Northern Territory initiative has been called an "admission of failure", as citizens are being asked to protect themselves because "the government cannot do the job". 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The Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory said allowing the public sale of pepper spray would do nothing to improve community safety and instead put more lives at risk. "It is incredibly misleading to suggest that equipping the community with a weapon is any kind of solution to community safety," CEO John Paterson said. "Weaponising people and allowing wider access to a harmful substance like OC spray won't fix violence - it will fuel it." Dr Paterson said the decision was especially dangerous for vulnerable people, including those sleeping rough, who were disproportionately targeted and criminalised, many of them Aboriginal. Data shows the NT has an incarceration rate three times greater than anywhere else in Australia and has the highest reoffending rate, with six out of 10 prisoners returning to jail within two years of release.
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