A MANIAC armed with a bow and arrow hunted a teenage girl "like an animal" through an Aldi supermarket and shot at her five times – hitting her twice.

Benjamin Bourke, 28, targeted his 15-year-old victim at random then chased her through the aisles over four minutes of pure terror, a court heard.

After shooting her in the arm, hand and chest, he went at her with a sledgehammer before other shoppers pinned him to the ground.

Dope-smoking drifter Bourke hoped to spark the biggest panic possible so police would shoot him dead, a court was told in Brisbane, Australia.

CCTV footage played in court shows terrified shoppers running away as Bourke stalked through the Aldi in Brisbane suburb Booval.

Pleading with other shoppers for help, the girl ran through the aisles with Bourke in pursuit, firing arrows from a compound bow.

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“She was hunted like an animal around the store for about four minutes,” said crown prosecutor Matt Le Grand.

Bourke zeroed in on his target as she was locking her bike outside the Aldi.

He walked up to her and removed his mask, saying menacingly: “I’ll let you see who I am first.”

He then aimed an arrow at her face which narrowly missed her.

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She ran inside trying to escape but he fired another shot which grazed her right arm.

The girl watched in court yesterday as chilling CCTV showed him hunting her down while she cowered behind a pallet.

Bourke shot at her again, and this time the arrow pierced through her left hand before lodging in her upper torso.

It also penetrated the mobile phone case she was holding – which may have saved her life by absorbing some of the impact.

The girl ran to another customer to show her injuries with the arrow sticking out of her chest.

Bourke is then seen approaching from behind along one of the aisles and shooting again – but he misses.

She flees once more and is shielded by a Good Samaritan as Bourke fires his last arrow – and misses.

Astonishingly, Bourke then calmly walked up to the wounded girl holding a sledgehammer and asked for his arrow back, the prosecutor said.

The ordeal only ended when two other shoppers tackled the assailant to the ground in September 2020.

Murderous intent

Mr Le Grand said Bourke, then 25, had been intent on ending his own life after a row with his flatmate.

His solution was to spark "public panic" and "provoke the police into a violent standoff".

The prosecutor said: “He decided to take a life, he just didn’t know which life he would take.”

Dressed all in black, he set out on foot wearing a face mask and armed with the compound bow, three hammers and two knives.

He was seen on CCTV firing an arrow at a passing jogger – but he missed her.

Next he considered killing a mother who was with her baby, but decided against it.

Mr Le Grand said Bourke continued to the shopping precinct as “there would be more witnesses at the shops”.

“Causing an alarm was part of Mr Bourke’s plan,” he said.

He added Bourke showed no remorse and that the girl became the victim of his murderous intent because she "happened to be in his path".

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

Bourke, who admitted attempted murder, was sentenced to ten and a half years in jail.

YOU’RE NOT ALONE

EVERY 90 minutes in the UK a life is lost to suicide.

It doesn't discriminate, touching the lives of people in every corner of society – from the homeless and unemployed to builders and doctors, reality stars and footballers.

It's the biggest killer of people under the age of 35, more deadly than cancer and car crashes.

Yet it's rarely spoken of, a taboo that threatens to continue its deadly rampage unless we all stop and take notice, now.

That is why The Sun launched the You're Not Alone campaign.

The aim is that by sharing practical advice, raising awareness and breaking down the barriers people face when talking about their mental health, we can all do our bit to help save lives.

Let's all vow to ask for help when we need it, and listen out for others… You're Not Alone.

If you, or anyone you know, needs help dealing with mental health problems, the following organisations provide support:

• CALM, www.thecalmzone.net, 0800 585 858
• Heads Together, www.headstogether.org.uk
• Mind, www.mind.org.uk, 0300 123 3393
• Papyrus, www.papyrus-uk.org, 0800 068 41 41
• Samaritans, www.samaritans.org, 116 123

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