Thugs screamed at teenager Nicholas Henry ‘this is what rats get’ before stabbing him eight times and leaving him to die

Three vigilantes have been sentenced for hunting down a teenager and killing him in a “haphazard and chaotic” stabbing frenzy – but mystery remains over who landed the deadly blows.

Justice Jane Dixon said Nicholas Henry was ‘deeply loved by family and friends’ and a ‘kind-hearted’ and ‘caring’ young man.

A trio of vigilante killers has been jailed for at least 4.5 years over the stabbing attack on teen Nicholas Henry after a judge conceded she couldn’t punish any of them for wielding the deadly weapon.

Brothers Corey and Brayden Smart, and his friend Abraham Abas, hunted a “completely defenceless” Nicholas in a Morwell street in February 2021, believing the 18-year-old had broken into Corey’s girlfriend’s car at the nearby RSL.

Running after Nicholas, they screamed “this is what rats get” before he was stabbed eight times and left lying in the street to die.

In the Supreme Court on Thursday, Justice Jane Dixon said that none of the trio could be sentenced as the person who stabbed Nicholas, as mystery remains over who landed the deadly blows.

Corey Smart. Picture: Ian Currie

Brayden Smart. Picture: Ian Currie

Abraham Abas. Picture: Ian Currie

Her Honour noted that a fourth assailant was still at large, and could be the one that wielded the knife during the “haphazard and chaotic” 30-second attack that was caught on CCTV.

Corey, then aged 23, was found to have a “more significant role” in the savage killing after he gathered the group and chased Nicholas’s white van off the road.

He was handed a minimum five years jail for his guilty plea to manslaughter, with a maximum of eight years and six months.

His brother Brayden, then 20, and his friend Abraham, who was 18, were given just 4.5 years, with a maximum of 7.5 years.

Originally charged with murder, the three young men each pleaded guilty to manslaughter earlier this year – a charge that carries a maximum of 25 years jail.

Nicholas’s death rocked the Latrobe Valley, with Justice Dixon stating that he was “deeply loved by family and friends”, and a “kind-hearted” and “caring” young man.

Her Honour urged each of his killers to “keep Nicholas Henry at the forefront of your minds” as they embarked on the remainder of their lives.

The court heard that Corey continued to speak to his girlfriend every day from jail and that she remained “supportive” of him, despite her making a statement against the trio to police.

Abraham, who faces the prospect of deportation after his jail term ends, retained the support of his fiancee, who he intended to marry upon his release.

With time already served, the younger two killers will be eligible for release by August 2025, with Corey able to get parole by early 2026.

The three men shook hands and hugged after their sentences were handed down, walking out of court in handcuffs past a large group of supporters that yelled, “we love yas”, and “stay strong boys”.