More charges laid against man charged with Cassius Turvey’s alleged murder

Police have announced the 21-year-old West Australian charged with the alleged murder of an Indigenous teenager has also been hit with assault and stealing charges.

Police will allege Jack Brearley used a metal pole believed to be a shopping trolley handle to attack Cassius Cassius and his friend.

The 21-year-old man charged with the alleged murder of 15-year-old Noongar boy Cassius Turvey as he walked with friends after school has also been charged with assaulting one of the children who survived the ­attack – a 13-year-old Noongar boy who was on crutches as the group made their way along a suburban road in Perth’s east.

The boys were in their school uniforms and on their way to the shops in Midland when they said a black ute passed, then stopped in front of them, driven by a woman police have since identified as a non-Aboriginal local on bail for two assault charges. The boys have said she yelled racial slurs from the driver’s seat. Two men got out of the car, also using racial slurs, and came after them.

On Friday, police revealed the homicide squad had further charged Jack Brearley, the non-Aboriginal man already charged with murder over the fatal roadside beating of Cassius on October 13. Mr Brearley has also been charged with assault occasioning bodily harm and stealing.

Police allege Mr Brearley used a metal pole believed to be a shopping trolley handle to attack Cassius and his friend, then stole the younger child’s crutches and cap.

Prime Minister Anthony ­Albanese said Cassius’s death was racially motivated. “This attack that was clearly racially motivated just breaks your heart,” he said. “We are a better country than that and my heart goes out to the family and the friends.”

Earlier on Friday, Indigenous Affairs Minister Linda Burney said Cassius’s death was an example of the difficulties Indigenous children faced.

“Children, whether they’re Aboriginal or not, need to be able to get off a bus and get home safely, and this is nothing short of a tragedy,” Ms Burney said.

“I don’t want to say anything that’s going to jeopardise what needs to happen in terms of ­judicial procedures, but it is another reminder isn’t it of how precarious it is for young Aboriginal people in this country.”

Ms Burney told Radio ­National: “I personally know what it’s like to lose a child. I think that the family have been incredibly brave and enormously generous in allowing people to use Cassius’s name and also the images that we’ve seen.”

Six Noongar leaders published a joint plea on Friday for the attack to be treated as a hate crime under WA law. Their statement, issued by the Uniting Church, said: “We have come together as a Noongar Nation. Let’s make this a fight for all of us, for change. We are hurting, our people are hurting for a long time. We are standing straight and tall, for our children and young people.”