The reasons behind why the boy who fatally stabbed Jack Beasley has his appeal denied
The full reasons the boy who fatally stabbed 17-year-old Jack Beasley had his appeal attempt denied have been released.
Police & Courts
Don't miss out on the headlines from Police & Courts. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The full reasons the boy who fatally stabbed 17-year-old Jack Beasley had his appeal attempt denied have been released.
On April 14 it took less than an hour for the Court of Appeal to deny the appeal application of the boy who had pleaded guilty to Jack’s murder.
At the time the Court said the reasons would be published. On Friday a three-and-a-half page judgment of the case was released publicly.
Jack was fatally stabbed in the chest when he and his friends were confronted near the Surfers Paradise IGA by a group of teens on December 13, 2019.
One of Jack’s friends, also 17, was stabbed in the back and chest, leaving him with a punctured lung, it was alleged.
The boy appealing his sentence was 15 when he swung the knife and struck Jack in the chest, killing him about 8pm as shocked diners across the road watched on.
The boy – now 17 – pleaded guilty on May 9 to murder and two counts of committing a malicious act with intent.
He was sentenced to ten years prison to be released after he had served seven years.
The appeal document show the boy had tried to argue that he had special circumstances which meant his time in prison should have just been five years.
If successful the boy would have been released from custody before his 21st birthday.
“The applicant’s counsel relied upon the fact that the applicant had turned himself in (but only after footage of the offending was released on social media) and that he pleaded guilty to a very serious charge, murder,” the Judgement read.
“The plea was in the context where there was CCTV footage of the offending and it was entered, not early, but at the beginning of the trial …
“It does not seem to me that the sentencing judge accepted those matters in an unqualified way, nor from the material before her was she bound to do so.”
The decision came less than a fortnight after Jack’s Law was signed.
The legislation gives police the powers to search anyone in the safe night precincts or on public transport with a handheld metal detector.
The law was signed on April 2 – what would have been Jack’s 21st birthday.
More Coverage
Man charged after three-hour police standoff
A man has been arrested and charged after an incident unfolded at a Biggera Waters service station in the early hours of Sunday morning. FULL STORY
Burleigh ‘cannot become a southern Surfers Paradise’
Labor and the LNP have been warned against snap decisions to make Burleigh a safe night precinct, with fears it would open the door into transforming it into a nightclub hub.