Cian English death: Teen girls charged with murder over balcony fall

Two girls, age 15 and 16, have been charged over the death of former Churchie student Cian English, with police alleging the pair videoed his assault, torture and death – and the torture of his friend – before posting it to social media.

A SENIOR Gold Coast cop has slammed the ‘gangster mindset’ of teenagers after two girls were charged over the alleged murder of Brisbane teen Cian English.

Mr English, 19, plunged to his death from a Surfers Paradise highrise balcony on May 23 after he was allegedly assaulted and robbed at knifepoint.

Revealed: Names of three men charged with balcony murder

Three men, aged 18 to 22, have been charged with the former Churchie student’s murder and on Thursday, police arrested two, aged 15 and 16, over the tragedy.

They were allegedly partying in the same building where Mr English and his friend were staying.

Police will allege the girls videoed Mr English’s assault, torture and death – and the torture of his friend – before it was posted to social media, regional crime co-ordinator Detective Superintendent Brendan Smith said.

He said police would allege the girls ‘actively encouraged’ the assault and then stole clothing from Mr English’s unconscious friend on the balcony after Cian’s death.

Cian English from Brisbane who died on the Gold Coast in the early hours of May 24. Picture Facebook

“It really is beyond belief that people behave like this,” he said.

“It just goes to the very core of their attitude, and it will be something that a sentencing court or a jury will look at down the track.”

Supt Smith said the alleged conduct of the two girls was ‘reprehensible’.

“As a parent myself, I don’t understand how this would occur,” he said.

“I know if my daughter, when she was 16, and she wasn’t home, I’d be asking the question, ‘where the hell is she?’ Why aren’t parents doing that today?

“We’ve got a 19-year-old male that has died tragically and we’ve got people that don’t seem to care.”

Supt Smith said it beggared belief that such a crime could happen, let alone allegedly be videoed and uploaded to social media.

“We need our young people to talk to our peers and say enough is enough - they’re not listening to adults,” he said.

“They think it’s cool. We need to change attitudes.”

Police at the scene of Cian English’s death in Surfers Paradise at View Pacific Apartments. Picture: Jerad Williams

Asked about a recent spate of knife killings on the Gold Coast involving teenagers, Supt Smith said there was a mindset that it was ‘cool to carry a knife’.

“There’s no need to carry a knife - the Gold Coast and Queensland is an extremely safe place to be,” he said.

“For some reason, they (teenagers) think it’s cool to have that gangster mindset and they’ve got to carry a knife to be cool. It takes other kids to go ‘hey, don’t do this, you’re an idiot’.”

The two girls have been charged with offences including murder, torture and robbery.