County Court: Young man fronts court over involvement in street fight

A young thug kicked a defenceless teen outside Flinders St Station during a brutal fight that left the victim in an induced coma.

A young man arrested and charged in connection with a horrific street violence outside the Flinders Street train station has avoided a prison sentence.

A young man who nearly killed a 15-year-old in a horrific street fight after an argument turned violent in Melbourne’s CBD has narrowly avoided jail.

Tha Na Wah, 20, got involved in an argument with another group outside the Flinders St Station Myki card barriers on St Kilda Rd just after 1am on March 13, 2022.

Wah pleaded guilty to charges of causing serious injury recklessly and affray and was sentenced in the County Court to a two year community corrections order.

“The elements of affray include that there must be a degree of unlawful violence and that display of violence would terrify a reasonably-firm person present at the scene,” Judge Trevor Wraight said.

Others who were with Wah were aged 14, 15, 16 and 19.

A fight between two youth groups occurred outside the Flinders Street Station that left a 15-year-old boy with a fractured skill.

Judge Wraight said during an argument between the two groups when a 19-year-old male who was with Wah allegedly punched the 15-year-old with such force he fell to the ground unconscious.

Wah then kicked him in the head while three others allegedly followed suit. Two of them allegedly stomped on the boy’s head as he lay unconscious.

Bystanders tried to stop further attacks on the victim by standing over him.

The 19-year-old’s case is still before the court.

The victim was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital with a traumatic brain injury and placed in an induced coma. He spent just over two weeks in the hospital.

Dr John Gall said in the absence of resuscitation and subsequent surgery, the victim would have died from life threatening injuries.

Judge Wraight said the fight occurred in one of the most public places in central Melbourne and while the whole event was relatively short, it involved inflicting serious injury to a 15-year-old.

A 15-year-old boy knocked unconscious after a street fight had to undergo emergency surgery at the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

Wah was arrested in a laneway close to the train station about an hour later, followed by others a short time later.

He initially told police he was the victim but admitted his role after being told about the CCTV footage.

Currently working at a dairy farm in Mount Gambier, Wah said he was intoxicated at the time of the offending and had also consumed cannabis and Xanax.

Judge Wraight determined that a non-custodial sentence was appropriate given Wah’s youth, early guilty plea, a lack of prior conviction and good prospects of rehabilitation.