Qld thefts spur call for tougher sentences

Two separate overnight robberies at businesses southwest of Brisbane have prompted a local councillor to call for US-style mandatory sentencing.

About 8.45pm on Friday, three men stole alcohol from a bottle shop at Goodna after punching the 28-year-old attendant in the head.

He was taken to the Ipswich General Hospital with injuries.

Three hours later, the nearby Redbank Plains Tavern was targeted by two men armed with a rifle.

They escaped with cash but nobody was injured.

Local councillor Paul Tully accused the justice system of failing the community with its "limp-wristed sentences" that he said had no deterrent value.

"We need a California-style law which sends serial offenders to prison for 25 years to life after three offences," he said.

Mr Tully believes judges are frequently fooled by fictitious stories about the age, family and sad upbringings of violent offenders.

"They should come down out of their ivory towers and get a grip on reality and understand how the community is angry with their weak sentences imposed on violent offenders."