Teen accused of stabbing 12-year-old in Elizabeth Park bailed to Victoria

A teenage boy charged after a 12-year-old was stabbed at Elizabeth has been bailed to Victoria, despite a court hearing there’s “no control” to stop him reoffending.

One of the two boys accused of a daylight stabbing has been granted bail, once he catches a flight to Victoria.

A boy accused of participating in the daylight stabbing of a 12-year-old boy has been released on bail to Victoria – with Youth Justice to pay for his flight.

The 13-year-old from Elizabeth Park, who legally cannot be identified, appeared via video link in the Adelaide Youth Court before Magistrate Michael Jandy on Thursday.

Prosecution told the court releasing the boy to live with a “cultural family friend” would simply mean shifting the risk to the community from “one border to another”.

“Even in a short time, he has shown he has a propensity to reoffend and there is no control of him to prevent that,” prosecution said.

“Prosecution does note that the youth has made comments when interviewed that he does not want to stay at the Victorian address.”

Mr Jandy said he didn’t think it was the boy’s “choice” because he was still legally in the custody of his mother who could “tell him what to do … whether he obeys or not, is another question”.

The boy is charged with aggravated assault causing harm with a weapon and aggravated dishonestly taking property without consent after a stabbing at a popular Adelaide Park on Sunday.

Emergency services were called to Fermont Park at Elizabeth Park just before 3.30pm after reports of an assault.

Police found a 12-year-old boy with a stab wound to his leg and arrested the 13-year-old boy.

A second boy – a 15-year-old from Elizabeth Downs – was arrested and charged with assault cause harm on Monday and was bailed to Elizabeth Youth Court in March.

The court heard Youth Justice had agreed to pay for and facilitate travel to Victoria in the event the boy was released on bail.

Prosecution alleged the boy had previously been sent to Victoria following other charges, but returned to Adelaide and was then involved in the stabbing.

However Mr Jandy said there were other contributing factors to his return including “boredom” caused by the school holidays, and that he was falling in with “bad influences” from older peers.

“There is an attraction to getting him away from the influences here that seems to be common ground,” Mr Jandy said.

“There is a suggestion that (family friend) will enrol (the boy) in a local school in Victoria which will mean he will spend less time alone at home, which (the boy) found boring.”

Mr Jandy agreed with concerns from prosecution a 24-hour window of release into his mother’s custody before transport to Victoria was an opportunity to reoffending, which counsel for the boy did not rebut.

“Mum has consistently indicated that actually she is unable and unwilling to control (the boy), I don’t think she once asserts such things and purports to be a guarantor of any reliability,” Mr Jandy said.

As a result, Mr Jandy remanded the 13-year-old in custody until Youth Justice could put him on a flight to be released on unsupervised bail.

The matter will return to court in March.