Teen on bail accused of bashing man for burger in Caroline Springs shopping centre
A teen allegedly part of an African youth gang who bashed a man for his burger in a shocking unprovoked attack while on bail has been freed again despite strong police opposition.
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A teen allegedly part of an African youth gang who bashed a man for his burger in a shocking unprovoked attack while on bail has been freed again despite strong police opposition.
The Herald Sun can reveal the 17-year-old’s alleged gang crimes were deemed so serious a Children’s Court magistrate last month denied his bid for freedom, saying he was an unacceptable risk to the community.
But he took his fight to the Supreme Court where Justice Jane Dixon released him back in to his mother’s care.
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Police allege CCTV played in court showed the teen with up to 30 other youth loitering in the Caroline Springs shopping centre carpark before the attack about 10pm on February 9.
As the victim finished work and walked to his car carrying two burgers, the group surrounded him, before lashing out.
The court heard one young thug snatched a burger from the man’s hands, before others, including the accused, mobbed him, kicking and punching him.
When a passer-by tried to intervene he too was assaulted.
The attack happened as the nearby annual Summersault community festival was ending, in which extra police and security were deployed after last year’s event was stormed by a large group of mostly Sudanese youths who snatched mobile phones as patrons filmed the fireworks.
A boy, 16, was also punched and robbed during the chaos.
There is no suggestion the accused was involved in last year’s rampage.
But the court heard he was on bail for a robbery and assault in company in St Albans on December 19, and that he had been caught breaching his curfew bail condition three times.
A member of Taskforce Wayward — a new police unit set up last year to track youth offenders in Melbourne’s west — told the court of his concerns of the ability of the teen’s mother to control her son and did not trust she would inform police if he breached his bail conditions.
He said she had not been able to control him in the first place, pointing out one of his younger brothers is a co-accused and is also on bail in the family home, while another is on remand for other alleged crimes.
His lawyer told the court he would be contesting the charges, saying the police case was weak, and their ID of his client on poor quality footage was “pure conjecture”.
Justice Dixon accepted the lawyer’s submission the teen’s 20 days already spent in custody had been a learning curve for him, enforcing the seriousness of bail and its conditions.
When dealing with juveniles in court, she said, the primary goal was their rehabilitation and “giving children a chance to mend their ways”.
She ordered he attend school daily, report three times a week to a police station, surrender passport, abide by a 9pm-6am curfew, and not associate with any co-accused, except his brother.
He must also take part in what was described as an “intensive” youth justice support program, with daily activities including two nights a week of sport training.
In some parting words for the accused, Justice Dixon urged him to turn his life around and be a role model, particularly for his younger brothers.
“This is a very significant opportunity you’ve been given,” she said. “You are going to have to work hard.”