Grief and anger grip community after shopkeeper’s death
Allanah Sciberras, Laine Clark and Alex Mitchell |
Grief and anger continue to ripple through a tight-knit community where a supermarket owner was stabbed to death.
Floral tributes have been placed outside the Darwin supermarket, where Linford Feick was killed while confronting an alleged shoplifter.
The 18-year-old accused, who authorities said was out on bail for “serious matters” at the time, handed himself in to Northern Territory police on Thursday morning and was charged with murder.
Community members and local leaders came together in Nightcliff on Thursday night to remember the 71-year-old, leaving cards and flowers at a twilight vigil.
Deputy opposition leader Dheran Young was one of hundreds who gathered outside the Friendly Grocer store where Wednesday’s stabbing took place.
Mr Young said “heartbreak” was felt across the community.
“This is a shop that a lot of people go to, because Linford was such a loved and respected community member… this (is) devastating,” he told AAP.
“I’ve shopped there and he always had a smile on his face. It didn’t matter who you were or where you were from.”
The incident triggered a quick reaction from politicians, with the NT parliament set to reconvene on Wednesday to pass legislation ensuring fewer people are released on bail.
Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said she wanted the NT to have Australia’s toughest bail laws.
“We’re making sure we are taking strong action right now … and with these changes, we should see less people bailed,” she said.
“If you do the wrong thing, we’ll find a bed for you in a prison.”
The legislation will be modelled on Victorian and NSW laws, under which a judge must be satisfied that an offender is not going to pose a risk to the community if granted bail.
Darwin bottle shop worker Declan Laverty was fatally stabbed in 2023 by a man on bail, a killing that also ushered in stricter legislation.
Under the so-called Declan’s Law, electronic monitoring devices became mandatory for repeat offenders granted bail and the scope of offences triggering a presumption against bail was expanded.
“Territorians are angry, sad, they are frustrated and they are asking themselves when will enough be enough,” Ms Finocchiaro said.
The union representing retail staff said more had to be done to protect the territory’s workers.
“Nobody should go to work and not come home,” the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association’s Josh Peak told AAP.
“Two violent deaths in the retail sector in the Northern Territory in the last two years shows that more must be done to keep workers safe.”
The NT’s prison population has reportedly risen by more than 500 people since the Country Liberal Party won the 2024 election with a tough-on-crime agenda.
Mr Feick’s wife Margaret described her husband as “a beautiful man, a true gentleman and my soulmate”.
“I am sitting here at 3am too broken to go to sleep because my life has been shattered,” she wrote on Facebook.
“My beautiful husband of 51 years was stolen from me, his children and his seven grandchildren.”
AAP
