By Jane Lee
One of the men involved in the fatal bashing of a teenager in a Chinatown alley has been sentenced to six months' jail for his involvement, which a magistrate called "pure cowardice".
High school student Longxiang "Jeremy" Hu, 19, was set upon by three others in La Trobe Place in Melbourne's CBD on April 15, 2016.
Longxiang 'Jeremy' Hu was fatally bashed in Chinatown in April last year.
He died in hospital days later from severe head injuries.
Police allege that Shenglian Wan, 23, who will stand trial for Mr Hu's murder, kicked and stomped on Mr Hu's head during the fight.
The teenager got into a fight in La Trobe Place, just off Chinatown's Little Bourke Street.Credit: Leigh Henningham
Hanjie Liu, 24, kicked Mr Hu in the stomach while he was on the ground, and at one point hit him in the face with his wallet.
Mr Wan then allegedly stomped on the teenager's head three more times, before Liu ushered Mr Wan away to try to stop the fight, the Melbourne Magistrates Court heard on Monday.
Liu, a Chinese national, pleaded guilty to one count of affray, was sentenced to six months' prison.
While he was not charged with causing Mr Hu's death, Magistrate Therese McCarthy said that Liu became involved at the most serious stage of the fight.
Hanjie Liu has been convicted for his part in the fatal bashing of Jeremy Hu.
"It was an act of pure cowardice and while I accept it was brief and unpremeditated it ... caused a person to be further hurt," she said.
She accepted that Liu was a young offender and had no prior criminal history but said she had to "send the strongest possible message to the community that fights in public, with or without weapons, are unacceptable."
Jeremy Hu was a student at Yarra Valley Grammar School.
Ms McCarthy said the large group of people who stood watching the fight, including one as young as 15, were probably terrified as a result.
Mr Hu's mother, Vivian Yuan, said in a victim impact statement that he was the "pride and hope" of their family, and had meant to go to university. The pain of losing him "made it impossible for us to face our future with optimism ...There is no longer a reason for us to be happy.
"However, we have to live on to make sure the offenders are punished severely by the law."
Liu, who has already spent 25 days in custody over the attack, is currently on remand for unrelated charges.
He came to Australia on a student visa in 2014 and studied English. He was deciding on further study options when he was arrested over the attack, the court heard.
Mr Hu was kicked once more after the fight ended, by another Chinese student, Sirui Luo, who was last year fined $5000 and promised to return to China.
Another teenage boy had arranged to fight Mr Hu in the alley that night, angered by the fact that he was dating a girl he was also interested in.
The teenager, who cannot be named, was fined $1500 without conviction in the Children's Court and left Australia on the night he was sentenced, the court heard.
Defence counsel Hayden Rattray had pushed for his client to be fined with no further prison time.
Mr Rattray said Liu had been called to the alley "at the last minute", and got involved in the fight only when another participant became injured.