Balin Stewart verdict: Teen found guilty of manslaughter over Sunshine Coast stabbing death
A teen has been found guilty of manslaughter over the stabbing death of 16-year-old Balin Stewart during a fight outside his home on the Sunshine Coast.
Police & Courts
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A jury has found a teenager guilty of manslaughter over the stabbing of Sunshine Coast high school student Balin Stewart outside his family home in January 2022.
The jury returned their verdict after around 14 hours of deliberations, following more than seven days of evidence and legal arguments in the Brisbane Supreme Court trial.
Balin Stewart, 16, died on January 20, 2022, after he was stabbed by a 17-year-old boy in the street outside his home at Buddina on the Sunshine Coast.
His killer – now 18, but who cannot be identified – had pleaded not guilty to murder at the start of the case on Monday, May 29.
The jury retired to start their deliberations around midday on Wednesday and returned their verdict shortly after 5pm on Friday.
They found the teenager not guilty of the murder charge, but convicted him by unanimous verdict on the alternative charge of manslaughter.
One member of the jury was crying as they left the courtroom after delivering the verdict. The defendant’s family also cried after the verdict was announced.
The jury wrote several notes to Justice Elizabeth Wilson during deliberations asking for clarification on the meaning of legal terms and they heard parts of the evidence again upon request on Friday afternoon.
Outside court on Friday night, Balin’s parents Michael and Kerri-Lyn Stewart spoke of the trauma of listening to every second of the trial during the past two weeks.
“It (the verdict) doesn’t bring Balin back, we’re still sad, we’ll never be able to hold Balin again,” Michael Stewart said.
“There’s no winners out of this, hundreds and hundreds of people have been affected by this event – our family is destroyed, I’m sure his family is feeling as well. Regardless of the verdict, Kerri-Lyn and I still don’t have any peace.
“No person should go through this court process – it’s just brutal. Listening to how your son died over and over again. When you lose a child, your life is consumed with sorrow and sadness. We’re just going to have to mourn his death again after this experience.”
Kerri-Lyn Stewart added: “There was no verdict that was going to be good … there are no winners, at all.”
During the trial, Crown prosecutor Rebecca Marks argued the killer’s actions during the fatal confrontation showed he was never fearful for his life and he was always the aggressor.
“According to him (the defendant), when Balin comes out (of his house), he (the defendant) realises he (Balin) is unarmed, and (the defendant) throws the knife away. It simply doesn’t make sense if he felt so anxious and scared about engaging in a fight,” Ms Marks said.
“He (the defendant) also said that on the drive (to Balin’s house) he felt really anxious about having a fight, but at no stage did he turn around and go back.”
The teenage girl at the centre of the tragedy – who knew Balin and the killer, and witnessed the fatal fight – maintained “Balin never threw the first punch” during the confrontation.
She also said during a lull in the fighting, the killer said he was “going to f***ing kill” Balin.
The girl also testified that Balin was heading back into his house at one point, but the killer provoked him into re-engaging in the argument by saying: “Good boy, go back inside.”
The killer’s legal team never disputed that he fatally stabbed Balin, but they disputed whether the killing was lawful on the grounds that he was acting in self-defence.
Defence barrister Charlotte Smith pointed to videos sent by the teenage girl to her client that night showing her and Balin doing “provocative” things, such as the girl grabbing Balin’s exposed buttocks and both of them lying next to each other on a bed.
Ms Smith also said her client had a genuine belief that Balin had a knife.
This stemmed from a social media post shared days before the confrontation showing Balin holding a knife he had purchased at a Bribie Island corner store.
In addition, on the night Balin died, the killer was told that one of Balin’s friends claimed to be carrying a knife at a party and there was talk Balin and his friends wanted to fight the killer.
Overall, the trial was complicated by conflicting accounts from the numerous teenage witnesses called to give evidence who were at the party on the night Balin died. Balin and the girl attended, but the killer did not after he was told about the knife and fight threats.
Nobody ever saw the knife Balin’s friend claimed to be carrying that night, in fact, when called to the stand, the young man denied he ever claimed to have a knife that night.
Before the jury started deliberations, lawyers for both sides placed great emphasis on the account given by the girl and the killer – the only direct witnesses to the fatal confrontation.
The defence team asked the jury to heavily scrutinise the girl’s version of events and conclude her testimony did not rule out their self-defence argument.
The prosecution said the girl was a credible and reliable witness, and parts of the killer’s account of that night “simply doesn’t make sense”.
The now convicted killer, who has been on bail throughout the trial, was taken into custody after the verdict was delivered on Friday evening, and will remain behind bars.
His case will be heard again in Brisbane Supreme Court next Wednesday, June 14, where further discussions will take place around arranging a sentencing date.
Mr and Mrs Stewart established the Balin Stewart Foundation after their son’s death, aiming to discourage anyone, particularly children, from carrying knives. The foundation carries the slogan: “Bin the Blade for Balin”.
Speaking outside court on Friday, Balin’s parents said they are battling with Sunshine Coast Council to be allowed to have a memorial stone on Balin’s memorial chair, which they paid for. They appealed for public help in their discussions with Council.
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