Teenager pleads guilty to manslaughter after death of Gold Coast’s Jack Beasley at Surfers Paradise in 2019

One of the teens accused of stabbing and killing Gold Coaster Jack Beasley on a night out in the city has pleaded guilty to manslaughter. STEP INSIDE THE COURT AS IT HAPPENED

A tall, broad-shouldered teen with curly dark hair sits in a courtroom, accompanied by three others.

He is wearing a white, long-sleeved shirt and grey tracksuit pants and the man bun on the top of his head jiggles slightly as he bounces a leg up and down quickly.

Gold Coast teen Jack Beasley was killed in December 2019.

The 19-year-old is sitting next to another teen in a navy blue T-shirt. He is quiet and looks straight ahead. A younger boy is in the corner away from the others.

A fourth accused enters the courtroom on bail. He walks in wearing a bright red sweatshirt and shorts. The group of teens barely speak. A fifth person is not required to attend the court today.

Jack’s father Brett Beasley and mother Belinda Beasley were in the Supreme Court in Brisbane on Thursday. Picture: Glenn Hampson

At the back of the courtroom, a couple sit with a plain clothes detective. They look nervous. The middle-aged man is wearing a blue and white Hawaiian shirt, denim shorts and thongs. His partner is in a nice tartan shirt and dark pants.

The attention turns back to the teen with the man bun. All eyes are on him before, in a quiet voice, he admits to the manslaughter of a Gold Coast teen in December 2019.

The court is quiet, save for the cries from the couple at the back. It is Brett and Belinda Beasley, the parents of Jack Beasley, 17, who was stabbed to death in Surfers Paradise on December 13, 2019.

The teen, who cannot be named for legal reasons, also pleads guilty in the Supreme Court in Brisbane on Thursday to two counts of grievous bodily harm on the same night of Mr Beasley’s death.

He also admitted his guilt to an armed robbery in July 2019 and an assault and stealing a car on August 14, 2020.

He will be sentenced after the other four go to trial. The four have been charged with murder and acts intending to cause grievous bodily harm. They were aged between 15 and 18 at the time.

The 19-year-old who pleaded guilty to manslaughter is taken from the court by corrective services officers. He is not alleged to be the main offender.

As he is led away, he shakes hands with the teen wearing the red sweatshirt.

The others remained in court for a pre-trial hearing.

The back of the court is sparsely populated by lawyers and two others, at least one a family member of one of the teens.

The teen on bail was accompanied by a woman believed to be his mother. She was in a print shirt and dark pants.

The trial is expected to take place on May 9 and run for about three weeks.