Teenage boy facing possible deportation after stabbing man while gatecrashing party

A 16-year-old boy who spent years in a “very, very poor” refugee camp is facing possible deportation to Sudan after he gatecrashed a party at Quakers Hill last year and stabbed a man who asked him to leave.

• Gatecrash: ‘15 years feels like 15 days’

A teenage boy who gatecrashed a sixteenth birthday party with a group of “associates” and then stabbed a guest when he was refused entry could be deported to Sudan.

The now 16-year-old boy was sentenced to 18 months behind bars with nine months non-parole for reckless wounding in company and affray at Parramatta Children’s Court yesterday for the bloody Quakers Hill attack in June last year.

Liam Hamilton was celebrating turning 16 with around 40 friends and 15 adults, including his parents, at his suburban home.

A person questioned over the incident but not charged.

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But as guests were heading home, the then 15-year-old offender, who was high on marijuana, and about 10 other youths turned up after catching buses in from Blacktown. They claimed they were invited when they weren’t.

Liam’s older brother Corey and friend David Davis, both then 22, asked them to leave before things turned violent.

Davis was punched to the face by one member of the group and tripped to the ground. Someone then pulled his hood over his face. Two youths then knelt on his chest as the offender “thrust” his hand at his lower chest.

Davis was in hospital for five days.

“The victim was intending to be a peacemaker in this situation,” Magistrate Tracy Sheedy said.

David Davis spent five days in hospital after the stabbing attack.

Liam’s older brother Corey Hamilton also asked the teenager to leave.

“The young person assaulted the victim whilst he was on the ground held by others and unable to defend himself.”

Lawyer Ali Hallani told the court that the boy’s mother was only 16 when he was born in Sudan. His father and grandfather were killed in a protest when he was just nine months old. His family then fled to avoid persecution and they lived in a refugee camp for several years before arriving in Australia. The court was told his mother began a new relationship with a man who subjected them to domestic violence.

“This is all whilst (he) was now reaching his teens and needing some type of figure or careful parenting and this havoc was happening at home,” Mr Hallani said.

The court heard that the boy had a significant criminal history and was on bail and the subject of three court supervised orders when he carried out the attack.

Detectives inspect the scene at Quakers Hill in June last year. Picture: Steve Tyson

“He has a serious history of offending for one so young,” Magistrate Sheedy said.

But she noted he had faced “very serious issues” in his life since he was a baby.

“He spent many of his formative years in what can only be described as very, very poor and

hostile conditions in a refugee camp,” she said.

Mr Hallani said his client understood that if he kept on offending he would face the real possibility of being deported.

“It’s a submission that goes to real life consequence,” he said, saying the legislation was “unforgiving”.

However because the boy’s maximum sentence is greater than 12 months his permission to stay in Australia could be deported.

With time already served the boy, who pleaded guilty to reckless wounding in company and affray, will be eligible for parole on May 23.

Originally published as Teenage boy facing possible deportation after stabbing man while gatecrashing party