Brisbane Teenager's Appeal to Reduce Sentence for Fatal Stabbing Rejected

A Brisbane teenager convicted of the violent murder of a man with a large hunting knife has had his bid to reduce his time behind bars rejected.

The teenager, who previously admitted to being "addicted to stabbing", pleaded guilty to attacking 19-year-old Abddullahi Ahmed Iyow in the arm, hand and leg and three times in the stomach and abdomen at Acacia Ridge in May 2024.

He was 17 at the time of the attack and can't be named under Queensland's youth justice laws.

Police said the pair had been walking together to a park when they got into a fight, with the killer later admitting to police that he stabbed Mr Ahmed Iyow for smashing his phone earlier in the day.

He told them the damage to his phone had caused him to lose his drug dealing contacts.

According to a court judgment, the teenager said Mr Ahmed Iyow "deserved that shit", he "should have done it earlier" and that he hoped the victim had learned his lesson.

He said "did not give a f***" if the victim died because he had "disrespected him".

Mr Ahmed lyow was rushed to hospital soon after the attack for emergency surgery and was placed on life support, but died on June 18 as a result of his injuries.

Attack 'particularly heinous'

In April 2025 a judge sentenced the teenager to 12 years' imprisonment, requiring him to serve at least 70 per cent before he could be released.

He concluded that attack had been "particularly heinous" due to it being effectively unprovoked.

During the hearing, Abddullahi Ahmed Iyow's brother allegedly grabbed a pen from a lawyer's desk and lunged at the teenager, causing minor injuries to his back.

The 22-year-old was charged with assault occasioning bodily harm.

At the time, Mr Ahmed lyow's family said their lives had been "shattered" by the brutal attack, which had "cruelly stolen" the life of a "vibrant teenager with his whole life ahead of him".

'Addicted to stabbing'

According to a psychiatrist report tendered in court, the teenage killer had described stabbing people as "joyful", saying it felt good and he was "addicted to stabbing because of my past trauma".

It said in the two days leading up to the stabbing, he had been consuming alcohol, Xanax, cannabis and codeine syrup, a psychiatrist report stated.

While he had no official criminal history, the teenager admitted to being involved in previous gang-related crimes, including a kidnapping that had not come to police attention.

The psychiatrist concluded he had a severe conduct disorder with "antisocial personality traits", PTSD, oppositional defiance towards his family and authority, and met the criteria for having an intellectual disability.

The report said the teenager was also at above-average risk of carrying out another violent offence.

Sentence kept

In July this year, the teenager applied to the Court of Appeal to reduce the length of his sentence, arguing it was not a "particularly heinous" crime, as the sentencing judge had found at the time.

The application argued the judge had failed to consider the steps the teenager had since taken to rehabilitate himself, and that requiring him to serve 70 per cent of his 12-year sentence was "manifestly excessive".

However, this week Court of Appeal justices David Boddice, Shane Doyle and Debra Mullins AO jointly refused the application and upheld his original sentence.