Grandfather ‘spoke to teen’ after alleged Mornington pier pushing, court told

A teenage boy was on bail when he allegedly pushed a woman off the Mornington Pier while his friend streamed the alleged attack to social media.

The grandfather of a teen who was on bail when he allegedly pushed a woman off Mornington Pier allegedly told police he had “spoken to him about what he did” when they arrived to arrest him.

The boy was expected to front a Victorian Children’s Court on Tuesday to answer charges of reckless endangerment and unlawful assault over the January 14 incident.

He did not appear, with his lawyer appearing on his behalf.

The court heard the youth was on bail and a diversion was being considered in relation to another matter when the alleged pier attack happened.

After a brief discussion, the January matter was adjourned to a later date.

Video of the alleged attack appeared on social media.

The prosecution will allege another youth was recording the teen and a co-accused when they, “all of a sudden, without warning or provocation”, pushed an elderly woman off the pier.

The 14-year-old is accused of “jeering” and “laughing” as he ran off, without offering any help to the alleged victim.

When police arrived at his home two days later, his grandfather allegedly said he had “already spoken to him about what he did”.

The prosecution will allege he made a “no comment interview” to all the allegations.

The woman was fishing when she was allegedly pushed.

The alleged statement of facts, submitted to the Children’s Court, said the Victorian Fisheries Authority was contacted to “establish the depth of water and tide variation at the time of the incident”.

The VFA conducted a dive and said water was estimated to have exceeded 7m in depth on the night in question and there was “very poor visibility”, the statement read.

“The structure of the pier is covered in mussels,” the VFA noted.

“If struck during the fall, they could cause severe abrasions / lacerations and a high risk of infection due to marine bacteria present.”

It also noted the solid timber beams of the pier could cause blunt force trauma if hit on the way down.

Police have tried to track down the alleged victim but she is yet to come forward.