Po Bo Bo faces court after stabbing 18-year-old at Fed Square

A victim was allegedly stabbed in Melbourne’s CBD during an unprovoked attack before being left on the ground in a pool of his own blood.

The case of a teenager who allegedly stabbed another during a fight between two groups of youths in Melbourne CBD earlier this year will remain in the lower court.

Lawyers for Po Bo Bo, 18, on Thursday applied for summary jurisdiction in the magistrates’ court in regards to the March 13 incident.

The court heard Bo Bo had been at Federation Square with a group of friends about 11.30pm when someone in his group allegedly tried to start a fight with another group of youths.

As tension between the groups escalated, Bo Bo allegedly pulled a knife from his pants, lunged at the victim – who was standing to the side of the group – and stabbed him in the groin.

The court heard the groups separated as the victim, also aged 18, stumbled backwards, hunching over in pain, while Bo Bo continued to wave the knife at him.

The court heard the incident was captured on CCTV and showed the victim running a short distance towards Flinders Street Station, stumbling down the stairs, falling to one knee and then collapsing on the ground.

He lost consciousness as a large amount of blood pooled around him. Emergency services arrived soon after and took him to hospital.

Bo Bo and his associates allegedly fled into Birrarung Marr but all were quickly arrested.

Police found the discarded knife a short distance away.

Bo Bo’s barrister, Tom Battersby, on Thursday conceded “young people in public in possession of weapons” was concerning to the wider community.

He described the conflict as “stupid” and “immature” but submitted the offending needed to be considered in the context of a “brief” conflict between two youthful groups.

He said his client had spent 24 days in adult prison following the offending, was remorseful for his actions and had been performing “very well” on youth justice bail.

He said Bo Bo had no prior criminal history and came from a hard-working family. While he had lost his job in warehousing as a result of the charges and time in custody, he was on track to obtain a forklift licence and hoped to secure a new job.

Prosecutor Uthra Ramachandran spoke against the application, saying the stabbing was unprovoked street violence on a victim who was not known to the accused.

She said the “wanton and vicious violence” occurred on a busy Friday evening leading into a long weekend and placed the general public at risk.

The magistrate said while the offending was serious, it was also “relatively spontaneous”.

She decided the offending could be addressed adequately in the magistrates’ court and granted the application.

The court heard Bo Bo would plead guilty to one charge of recklessly causing serious injury when the case returns in September.