Boy, 16, on two sets of bail when he allegedly bashed a man with a baseball bat

A judge warned a teen “I don’t believe in third chances” before letting him walk free from court despite the 16-year-old already being on two sets of bail when he allegedly bashed a man with a baseball bat.

A boy, 16, on two sets of bail when he allegedly wielded a baseball bat during a horror group attack on a man has been granted bail again despite a judge saying, “I don’t believe in third chances”.

The teen, accused of being among an “excited” pack of four youths that slashed and smashed a man, 21, with machetes, knives, a hammer and baseball bat will join his two alleged co-offenders back in the community.

The decision to grant him bail in the Supreme Court on Friday — following an earlier refusal in a children’s court — came after Justice David Beach questioned, “How can I be confident if I grant him bail he won’t just go out and do it again – or worse?”

The court heard the boy was bailed on July 5 last year and again on January 21 this year before he was among a group that allegedly chased down the victim near a McDonald’s restaurant at Weir Views on February 17.

A witness who saw the attack unfold said four offenders armed with weapons were “acting kind of excited like they just won a Grand Final — they were really pumped up”.

Photos of the victim’s injuries were described as “horrific”, while the boy seeking bail had been seen with a baseball bat fleeing from the scene, the court heard.

Justice Beach said it was a “real concern” the boy was twice granted bail then “he goes out and does this”, noting that , “I do believe in second chances but I don’t believe in third chances”.

“It’s a bit hard to say there’s a compelling reason to grant someone bail if they’re just going to go out and breach it,” he said.

His Honour noted the “escalation” of the boy’s alleged offending between November and February, while he was on bail.

Defence barrister Christin Tom said being in custody for the past few weeks had a deterring effect on the child, but Justice Beach replied it may not have been “salutary enough”.

“I suppose there’s a lot to be said for giving someone a second chance but I’m firmly anti giving them a third chance, does your client understand that?”

The teen was bailed despite the judge warning him he doesn’t ‘believe in third chances’. Picture: Stock image

Mr Tom conceded the alleged offending was “extremely serious and grave” but maintained that the boy was deemed suitable for Youth Justice bail monitoring, had no criminal convictions and would live at home with his mother if granted bail.

Justice Beach turned to the prosecution, asking: “Doesn’t he deserve one go?”

“I know he’s already been on bail and he hasn’t taken that as seriously as he should have, but he’s been in custody now for a couple of weeks or thereabouts — give him one go?”

“In my submission, the applicant has had two goes,” prosecutor Joshua Sheppard replied.

But Justice Beach found there were compelling reasons to grant bail — being the boy’s young age, his lack of prior convictions and family and Youth Justice support.

The judge was “not persuaded” the child was an unacceptable risk to the community and said there was “little basis” to the police’s concerns that he could interfere with witnesses.

His Honour set “stringent” orders for bail and added a special condition that the boy not be in possession of a knife, hammer, machete or baseball bat in public.

He will return to court in May.

The decision to grant bail comes after changes were made to the Bail Act on March 25, forcing courts to take a wider range of considerations into account when determining a child’s bail application, including that detaining a child in custody was a “last resort”.

The reforms now allow an accused to make a second bid for bail without the onus of establishing new facts and circumstances.