A 10-year-old boy who was allegedly attacked by a African immigrant outside Victoria Police headquarters in Melbourne was on his way to get treatment for brain cancer, his furious family has revealed.
His mother Cherie, 46, was also allegedly repeatedly stabbed in the back with scissors by Liberian man Jerry Sowood, 27, near the intersection of Spencer Street and La Trobe Street in Docklands at about 1pm on Tuesday, shortly after arriving in the city from Phillip Island.
Sowood allegedly punched the 10-year-old in the head, and put Cherie in a headlock when she intervened and stabbed her multiple times in front of her son and other two children aged 11 and 16, before Good Samaritans jumped on him and carried out a citizens’ arrest.
The Sunshine West man appeared in court on Wednesday charged with affray, two counts each of intentionally cause injury and unlawful assault, conduct endanger life, and conduct endanger serious injury, and did not apply for bail.
Sowood told Magistrate Vincenzo Caltabiano: “I punched the kid in the head, I took the scissors and I stabbed the woman in the head. No need to hide it … at least they’re both still breathing, you know, so I kept my humanity. They might be a bit traumatised.”
The magistrate muted the video link after cutting Sowood off several times, but then started speaking again when the link was unmuted so the magistrate could explain the legal process to him, the Herald Sun reported.
“I’m telling you what I did and I’m saying there was no family that was torn apart,” Sowood said.
“Even though I did what I did, the mum did not lose her child.”
Sowood was not on bail at the time of the alleged attack, but was known to police in NSW and Western Australia. He will appear in court again in November.
The boy’s uncle, Kirk Holt, said the Labor state government had “failed Victorians [and] failed my family”, and told 9News he was “absolutely disgusted”.
He said Cherie and her son, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2023, had been separated while being treated and examined in hospital, and had been on their way to their hotel when the alleged attack happened.
“She can’t be with her son, it’s traumatic enough fighting cancer,” he said.
“They’re now looking to see if it’s caused any extra damage, if there’s any more inflammation around where the tumour is.”
Mr Holt said Cherie had suffered a fractured leg and neck ligament damage.
A big thanks to the guys citizen arresting the man.
The coppers didn’t take too long to arrive for the obvious reason. pic.twitter.com/PiQ8Db8RMz— junnie0618 (@junnie0618) August 25, 2026
Victoria Police Superintendent Zorka Dunstan said after the incident that the citizens’ arrest was “heroic”, and revealed bystanders jumped on the man’s back after he allegedly “grabbed the mother in a headlock and stabbed her repeatedly with a pair of scissors”.
“Any offending of this nature is horrific anywhere, not just outside the police station. We’re horrified by it,” she said.
“We had a citizen immediately intervene, who jumped onto him and just pulled him off the mum, and then the other two added assistance by grabbing him as well.
“Without the intervention, it could have been a lot worse, so we are so grateful for their assistance.”
Header image: Left, Jerry Sowood (Facebook). Right, the young boy (supplied).
