Four men kicked, stomped and beat 18-year-old Alex to death at party
The teenage boy who was beaten to death at a party on Friday night was trying to calm a rowdy situation, witnesses said, adding that Alex Ioane was kicked and stomped and beaten to death. Four men were arrested but released without charge yesterday.
A teenage boy has been bashed to death after trying to break up a fight at an out-of-control house party.
Alex Ioane was one of up to 80 people who turned up for the 16th birthday party at an Airbnb property on Chester Rd at Ingleburn in Sydney’s southwest on Friday night.
Police have been told the party was organised on Facebook.
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Neighbours said two girls knocked on their door that afternoon to let the neighbourhood know they would be having a party but said it would be wrapped up by 10pm.
Eighteen-year-old Alex was friends with the birthday girl and had only been at the home for a short time before trouble started.
Police have been told numerous fights broke out inside the party, including one that was sparked by a man sitting in a chair which belonged to another man’s girlfriend.
However family members have told The Sunday Telegraph Alex intervened when a group of young men — who call themselves the Claymore Boys — refused to leave the house when they were rowdy.
A relative, who didn’t want to be named, said that Alex was trying to calm the situation down when he was attacked in the house. She added that men at the party tried to escort the group through the house, because the side gate was broken, when the fight broke out.
Witnesses have told police a man kicked Alex until he fell on the ground before stomping on his head. Three other men were seen joining in on the attack and used a baseball bat to hit Alex.
It wasn’t until Alex’s friend Natasha Veatupu threw herself on top of him as he lay on the ground that the brutal assault stopped.
“You turn around and see your mate getting beaten with weapons,” she said. “In all honesty all I cared about was him in that moment.”
Ms Veatupu was left with lumps and bruises.
“My friends who were in the house stopping other fights came and seen it was me on top and they came rushing over,” she said. “They pulled me off Alex. By the time I got up he was laying there beaten and bloody.”
The attackers jumped fences and sprinted across backyards to make their getaway.
By the time police arrived it was chaos, as partygoers spilt out of the house.
“This is a very tragic set of circumstances,” Campbelltown police Detective Chief Inspector Mick Moroney said.
“We have got a young 18-year-old boy who goes out for the evening and who has been killed in such a brutal manner.
“This is not a regular occurrence in this area. This is a one-off thing.”
Witnesses recalled seeing Alex’s family arrive. “It was very emotional and very raw,” neighbour Peta, who did not give her last name, said.
Four men were arrested. They were released from Campbelltown Police Station without charge yesterday, wearing white forensic suits and claiming they were innocent.
It is understood police, who seized a golf club and pieces of wood from the scene, are still trying to track down at least three other men who orchestrated the fatal assault.
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