Boy, 15, arrested over alleged stabbing of City Cross security guard also accused of knifing mum in car

A teenager, 15, facing court over an incident in which a city security guard was stabbed is the same boy charged with injuring a mother who tried to protect her son from thieves.

Two youths were arrested and accused of involvement in the stabbing of a security guard at City Cross Arcade, in the CBD.

A 15-year-old boy arrested over the alleged stabbing of a city shopping precinct security guard is the same teenager accused of stabbing a woman through her car window as she tried to protect her son.

Meanwhile, the Youth Court has heard the second boy arrested – who was allegedly wielding the knife and is aged 14 – has a long history of charges being dropped due to “capacity issues”.

On Monday, the boys faced court accused of taking part in a brawl between a group of shoplifters, a security guard and a worker at the City Cross Arcade on Friday.

Police allege that, just before 5.30pm, arcade worker Bradeon Webster and security guard Harshpal “Harry” Sharma confronted a group of shoplifters.

They further allege Mr Sharma, 35, was stabbed in the abdomen when he put himself between Mr Webster and one of the youths, who had pulled a knife from his pants.

The 15-year-old, of Flinders Park, was the first to face court on Monday charged with

two aggravated counts of assault – one with a weapon, one without.

He was further charged with aggravated affray and with one count of possessing cannabis.

The boy’s counsel applied for bail, saying their client had demonstrated he could comply with electronically-monitored curfew conditions following his arrest last year on other charges.

Those allegations relate to an incident at Unley in October, when the boy was 14.

Security guard Harshpal “Harry” Sharma in hospital following the incident. Picture: Evangeline Polymeneas

It is alleged he and another youth stole $550 from a car belonging to the mother and that, when she gave chase, she was stabbed in the hand through an open window.

It is further alleged her son, 10, was in the car at the time, and that his mother shielded him from the knife – that case is ongoing.

A police prosecutor opposed bail, noting the Flinders Park boy was not accused of stabbing Mr Sharma – but was accused of punching both him and Mr Webster.

He said bail should be refused because the incident was a “serious altercation” involving “up to six people”, four of whom remained at large.

The prosecutor said investigations were continuing and the case would be supported by CCTV footage and DNA analysis.

He said detectives had identified the Flinders Park boy on the CCTV footage but DNA results would not be available for six months.

Defence counsel said six months was too long to hold her client in custody.

She said her client denied the allegations and had recently been diagnosed with attachment issues, post traumatic stress and an anxiety disorder.

Time in custody, she said, would disrupt his mental health treatment and schooling.

Magistrate Alison Adair agreed six months was too long, but said the charges were too serious to consider anything other than home detention bail.

She remanded the Flinders Park boy in custody until next week, pending a home detention suitability report.

The 14-year-old, of O’Sullivan Beach, then faced court charged with one basic count of taking property without the owner’s consent.

He was further charged with two aggravated counts of assault, one of which allegedly involved a weapon and one of which did not.

He was also charged with an aggravated count of causing serious harm with intent, and with one count of affray.

Finally, the boy was charged with one count of failing to comply with a bail agreement.

SA Police attending the scene of the alleged incident.

The police prosecutor also opposed the O’Sullivan Beach boy’s release on bail, saying he had “instigated” the incident and was “the youth who stabbed the victim”.

He said CCTV footage matched him “quite strongly” to the stabbing.

Defence counsel disagreed, arguing eyewitness descriptions of the youth with the knife did not match her client’s physical appearance.

Her client, she said, denied stabbing Mr Shama and also denied having shoplifted any items.

“I don’t seek to minimise the seriousness of someone being stabbed, but it does appear the circumstances depicted in the CCTV footage will be of significance in terms of how this matter resolves,” she said.

“There are circumstances, on the part of the victim and the witnesses, that provide some context to this matter.”

She conceded her client had other matters before the court but said all of them had been dismissed due to “doli incapax”.

That legal concept holds an offender is too young, or too lacking in maturity, to understand and appreciate the difference between right and wrong.

“We accept that doli incapax is not a live issue here, given my client is 14, but there are certainly concerns with respect to his capacity,” she said.

“He has recently been assessed and it appears it’s very likely he has an intellectual disability – the extent of which is unknown at this stage.”

Magistrate Adair remanded the O’Sullivan Beach boy in custody for two weeks, pending a home detention bail suitability report.

The alleged incident came just days after The Advertiser revealed incidents of violence within the CBD that left a person injured had reached a 12-year high.

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens subsequently said officers would not be tasked to every case of property damage and claimed crime in the area had decreased overall.

He later clarified that statement, conceding there had actually been an overall increase.