The devastated father of slain Bulli paramedic Steven Tougher is campaigning for the introduction of "Steven's Law" in a bid to stop further public service workers from being attacked and murdered on the job.
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Four days after his son's tragic stabbing death, Jeff Tougher is calling for new mandatory sentencing laws - including a mandatory life sentence in the case of murder - for attacks on ambulance officers and the state's other service men and women.
"As of [Friday] there's one less angel of mercy to answer your call. Snatched away from the life he loved," Mr Tougher wrote.
"People ask me if there's anything I need. Well there is ... I need you to back me in a bid to advocate for stronger laws to protect these people who serve the community with such passion and dedication.
"Laws like mandatory life sentences for killing anyone in the line of duty," he said, adding a mandatory term of three years imprisonment may be suitable for non-fatal assaults.
He said mandatory terms should apply "regardless of circumstance or state of mind", and that it was "just conjecture" that such laws would not prevent attacks like the one that claimed his son's life.
Steven Tougher, 29, was in the back of an ambulance parked at Campbelltown McDonald's on Friday morning when his attacker allegedly opened the vehicle's doors and repeatedly stabbed him.
He was reportedly on a meal break, completing some paperwork at shift's end, when he was killed.
His colleague activated a duress alarm, sparking a police response in which a 21-year-old man, Jordan Fineanganofo, was tasered and arrested.
Fineanganofo has since been charged with murder.
"I'm asking for these laws to protect the service community, so they don't have to look over their shoulder while they are performing CPR on an unconscious baby," Mr Tougher wrote.
"If these sentences make a potential psychopath think twice, then somebody gets to go home to their family and kiss their kids goodnight.
"If you are appalled by what has happened to my son, then use that energy to support me on this quest for a safer workplace for all service workers," he said, adding that the law should apply to ambulance officers, teachers, nurses, firemen, police and Defence personnel - "the very fabric of a safe society".
He called on supporters to advocate for the legislation to be called "Steven's Law".
"We cannot let the anguish that we feel, be wasted as frivolously as was my son ... It's hard to see through the tears right now but I look forward to making this world a better place just like my boy has done."
Steven Tougher was less than a year into his paramedic internship, with his second child with wife Madison only weeks away from being born, when he was killed.
His death has sent shockwaves through the wider community and hit hard for Illawarra paramedics, who erased industrial action messages from their ambulance windows this week to make way for words in tribute: "RIP our brother in blue".
Some Illawarra ambulance stations have flown their flags at half-mast in the aftermath of the attack, and have received bouquets of flowers and boxes of donuts from well-wishers.
Steven, a former Bulli High student, was stationed at Campbelltown but had carried out some overtime shifts in the Illawarra in the past.
Before becoming a paramedic, he worked as a registered nurse at Shellharbour emergency department and at Wollongong Hospital. Illawarra nurses and midwives have remembered him as "a true hero with the kindest soul".
Health Minister Ryan Park said on Saturday that the government would look into what it could do to improve safety for paramedics.
Asked about increasing the use of body cameras or security guards, he said the viability of these measures would be looked at "down the track".
"There's already a trial of body cameras in place that's due to wrap up in November," he said."We'll obviously have a look at that over the course of the days and weeks ahead. But our priority at the moment is making sure that [we] do everything possible to support a family who is going through unimaginable grief."
Due to the circumstances surrounding Mr Tougher's death, Mr Park indicated it was unclear what safety measures would have helped prevent it.
"Given the random nature of the way in which the alleged attack took place, I certainly I don't know if there was anything else," he said."But let's be very clear about this, over the days and weeks ahead, we will be looking into the incident as we do with all of these critical incidents. And I've assured the commissioner and he's assured me that if we can do anything to make paramedics safer, of course the government will do that."
Mr Park has been contacted for comment on mandatory sentencing.
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Angela Thompson
Proudly Illawarra Mercury since 2008; these days covering crime and justice issues. UOW alum. Thrilled by the chase and sobered by some of the things I see and hear when I stand still - sometimes in the same day. ang.thompson@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Proudly Illawarra Mercury since 2008; these days covering crime and justice issues. UOW alum. Thrilled by the chase and sobered by some of the things I see and hear when I stand still - sometimes in the same day. ang.thompson@austcommunitymedia.com.au
