The family of slain paramedic Steven Tougher have gone public with an emotional plea, calling for tougher laws for those who attack front-line workers.
Mr Tougher, a 29-year-old father of one with a new wife and another baby on the way, was stabbed outside a McDonald’s in south-west Sydney when he and a workmate took a break towards the end of their night shift about 5.30am last Friday.
HIs colleague activated an alarm, sparking a police response to the Campbelltown McDonald’s, in which a man wielding a knife was tasered and arrested.
Jordan James Fineanganofo, 21, has been charged with Mr Tougher’s murder. Mr Fineanganofo’s lawyer Javid Faiz said his client had mental health issues and was in the hospital at Long Bay Jail.
Mr Tougher’s death caused shockwaves across Sydney. A GoFundMe page set up on Friday afternoon to support his wife, Madison, and young family had raised more than $420,000 by Tuesday afternoon.
On Tuesday morning, Mr Tougher’s father, Jeff, posted a message on social media calling for friends and family to support him on his “quest” for stronger legislation.
“People ask me if there’s anything I need. Well there is. I need your support. I need your voice,” he wrote.
“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.”
Jeff Tougher said he’d like a mandatory sentence, such as three years’ jail, for assaulting frontline workers, “regardless of circumstance or state of mind”.
Mr Tougher said he’d like the legislation named “Steven’s Law”, in memory of his son.
“I’ve heard it said that ‘why do we need more laws?’. And this would still have happened with these laws – well, that is just conjecture. We will never know,” he wrote.
“I know that it will not affect this case, but for any future hideous acts, maybe justice will be seen to be done. 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.”
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Tributes pour in for slain paramedic
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He urged those who were shocked by his son’s death to support his push for a safer workplace for all service workers, including paramedics, nurses, firefighters, police, teachers and defence personnel.
“The very fabric of a safe society need to know that they are protected by these laws,” he said.
“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 had been working as a paramedic for just a year when he was killed. He and Madison had been married only five weeks.
