Autistic boy hacked to death while trying to defend his stepfather, court told
AN AUSTISTIC teen was hunted down and hacked to death by an axe murderer because he dared to defend his stepfather, a court has heard.
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AN AUSTISTIC teen was hunted down and hacked to death by an axe murderer because he dared to defend his stepfather, a court has heard.
Timothy “Timmy” O’Brien, 14, was fiercely loyal of his stepdad Peter Williams, with the pair sharing a special bond that made them virtually inseparable.
So when two men started attacking Mr Williams on the morning of January 5 2013, Timmy stepped into help, trying to fend them off with a baseball bat.
“As events transpired that loyalty cost Timmy O’Brien his life,” prosecutor Chris Dane, QC, told a Supreme Court jury today.
Mr Dane said one of the alleged attackers, Joel Henderson, chased Timmy down, pinned him to the ground and started strangling him.
He then took an axe he had armed himself with to assault Mr Williams to chop at Timmy’s head.
The court heard one onlooker begged Henderson to stop yelling at him: “He’s only a little boy, he has special needs.”
His only response was to say: “Die, c***, die.”
Mr Henderson has pleaded not guilty to a single count of murder over Timmy’s death.
Timmy had eight main injuries to the right side of his head and numerous other injuries.
He was dead by the time police arrived at the scene.
The court heard Mr Henderson had been recruited by a co-accused to bash Mr Williams.
Together they had plotted to lure Mr Williams to a Scarsdale home, where they set upon him before turning their attention to his stepson.
George Georgiou, SC, for Mr Henderson, said there were several issues in the trial including who caused Timmy’s fatal injuries.
“Things went horribly wrong, and the focus of the attention of the two men became Timothy O’Brien,” he said.
“There’ll be no issue from us that things went horribly wrong.
“People can act independently of one another. That’s very much at issue in this case.”
The trial continues.
shannon.deery@news.com.au