Hanlon Park coffee attack: Ex-AFP detective David Craig blasts Queensland Police for not using word ‘Asian’

A former AFP detective has lashed out at authorities over their failure to accurately describe a man’s identity after he doused a baby with hot coffee.

Nine-month-old baby Luka was at Hanlon Park with his young mother, when a stranger approached and poured the scalding liquid over the infant.

The suspect managed to evade police for over a week — despite a public appeal to help locate him — before fleeing the country and potentially escaping justice.

Former AFP detective superintendent David Craig labelled the attack as “attempted murder” and said police failures could be to blame for the man not being caught.

“His description was reported as a ‘proportionate person with tan skin’. That doesn’t narrow it down very much,” Mr Craig told Sunrise on Tuesday morning.

The description was distributed to the media and the public by Queensland Police.

A day later, a CCTV image was distributed, revealing the man was of Asian appearance.

“When a baby has been injured, attempted murder if you like, then we need to call out exactly who we’re looking for,” Mr Craig said.

“He should’ve been called out as a man of Asian appearance, just as we do people of Caucasian appearance. It didn’t happen quickly enough in this case.

“These are not racial vilification terms. These are identifying terms.”

Mr Craig said all known details should have been accurately released due to the man’s ability to evade police.

“Clearly this person had some counter-surveillance experience,” he said.

“He knew what he was doing.”

On Monday, Queensland Police revealed the man executed a calculated operation to evade police, travelling by foot and train across several suburbs.

The man then travelled to Sydney by car where he boarded an international flight and fled the country.

Mr Craig is confident his former employer will catch up with the man.

“I am sure the authorities will get him back here,” he said.

“There is a bit of a legal process so there should be a police-to-police operation happening at the moment trying to locate that person through a mutual assistance request.

“The extradition request will come through, there is a warrant that has been issued for him for grievous bodily harm which carries a life sentence.”

The young boy was taken to hospital with serious burns after the incident but has since been released to recover at home with his family.

The family said the little boy had been incredibly resilient despite the “traumatic and difficult” time.

“He’s up and about, walking and causing chaos,” his mother said.

“He is such a strong little boy and we are so so proud of him.”

But the family is still seeking justice as the police investigation enters its third week.

”This horrific event should have never happened,” the mother said.

“Hopefully one day justice will be served.”