Man jailed for hunting girl in store with bow and arrow

Armed with a compound bow, Benjamin Jeremy Bourke hunted a 15-year-girl in a supermarket "like an animal".

Pleading for help, the girl ran around the Aldi store west of Brisbane with Bourke shooting arrows in pursuit.

One arrow pierced her upper torso after going through her hand and the phone case she was holding up to protect herself.

In CCTV footage of the September 2020 attack shown in Brisbane Supreme Court on Wednesday, panicking shoppers can be seen trying to escape the Booval store as Bourke stalks the girl.

After a good Samaritan shields the 15-year-old, Bourke closed in with a sledgehammer before being tackled by other customers.

Bourke targeted the girl after hatching a plan to kill himself following an argument with a housemate.

He decided the way to achieve his goal was to be killed by police.

"In order to provoke the police into a violent standoff he decided to take a life," crown prosecutor Matt Le Grand said.

Arming himself with the bow, five arrows, three sledgehammers and two knives, Bourke put on a mask and went out looking for someone to kill.

Walking down the street, he shot an arrow at a woman jogging past but missed.

He decided against targeting another woman with a baby before noticing the 15-year-old outside the Aldi store, taking off his mask as he approached her.

"I will let you see who I am first," he said before shooting an arrow at the girl who retreated into the shop.

CCTV footage shows the girl running around the aisles begging customers for help and trying to hide as Bourke shoots arrows in the supermarket, at one stage narrowly missing other shoppers.

"She was hunted like an animal around the store for about four minutes," Mr Le Grand said.

A female shopper eventually shielded the girl when Bourke approached with the sledgehammer after running out of arrows.

He asked the sobbing girl to return the arrow that was later surgically removed from her hand, saying they were expensive, before being tackled and detained by two customers.

The girl was in court with her parents on Wednesday, silently sitting through the CCTV footage as Bourke held his head in his hands.

The court heard the girl's social and family life had been impacted since the attack and she remained hyper vigilant and suspicious of people in public.

Bourke has not shown remorse, court was told.

A psychiatric report said Bourke had developed a primitive and immature personality, was angry at the world and felt justified in his anti-social behaviour.

He was diagnosed with mild autism and a personality disorder.

Bourke's drug use was "not an excuse" and he had not been experiencing psychosis during the attack, Mr Le Grand said.

Bourke, 28, pleaded guilty to attempted murder and was sentenced to 10-and-a-half years in prison by Justice Tom Sullivan, with a serious violent offender declaration.

Bourke must serve 80 per cent of the sentence before being eligible for parole.