Lindim Aliti ‘overreacted’ when he fatally stabbed Thomas Tran in Oakleigh
A teen who stabbed an aspiring personal trainer in the heart after he ‘panicked’ in a fight uttered one heartless remark after the killing.
A Melbourne teen stabbed an aspiring personal trainer through the heart during a street brawl but claimed it was out of fear despite his shocking words to a friend after the attack.
Lindim Aliti was jailed for 6½ years over the stabbing death of 20-year-old Thomas Tran after a fight broke out between groups at Oakleigh on June 29, 2020.
But the 19-year-old killer who pleaded guilty to manslaughter will be eligible for parole after spending 3½ years behind bars.
The fatal fight was sparked after men engaged in “puerile” hand gestures and insults and things got out of hand, Justice Michael Croucher said in his sentence on Monday.
Both groups called for reinforcements with more than a dozen young men brandishing knives and machetes after the groups met up in a carpark.
Aliti, then 18, showed up in response to a call out on Snapchat. He was hanging back when he saw Mr Tran’s group returning after they chased Aliti’s friends.
“Horribly, this all ended in an irretrievable tragedy,” Justice Croucher said.
“For, ultimately, Thomas Tran, who had been part of the splinter group doing the aggressive chasing, was stabbed in the chest by a new recruit from the rival group.”
That was Aliti, who stabbed the 20-year-old through the chest and pierced his heart. He died at the scene.
The judge said the teen “panicked” and acted out of fear, though at that stage Mr Tran was not posing any threat, was unarmed and was not being aggressive.
“It’s hard to fathom why he overreacted so viciously to his fear,” the judge said.
He said the teen completely overreacted in a “violent, destructive and wildly disproportionate manner”.
However the judge said Mr Tran was the last of the group “to give up the chase” and was “leading the charge” against Aliti’s friends who were armed.
Instead of helping his victim the 18-year-old fled the scene and later destroyed the SIM card of his mobile phone.
He also uttered a heartless remark after he fatally stabbed Mr Tran, who died at the scene, the judge said.
“That’s one down now, confirmation,” Aliti said to a friend.
He later apologised to the his victim’s family in a statement read out at court.
“I understand that I would be the absolutely last person you guys would want to hear from but I don’t think I can live on if I didn’t try,” Aliti wrote.
“From the bottom of my heart I am truly sorry.”
The victim was the only child of Mai Tran and Tan Nhieu and was due to start a course to be a personal trainer when he was killed.
“For a moment, picture Mr Tran’s mother crying in pain at her son’s grave. Or Mr Tran’s father wandering about his son’s room, dressed in his clothes and lying in his bed,” Justice Croucher said.
“I find it heartbreaking even to utter these words. Yet it must be another thing altogether for his family to live this awful reality.”
The judge said Aliti had no criminal history, was of good character, had shown remorse, pleaded guilty and was a young man with an excellent prospect of rehabilitation.
After he was sentence the judge allowed the 19-year-old to farewell his sobbing parents who waved to him as he was taken into custody.
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