Murder charge laid following fatal stabbing of NT bottle shop worker

The teenager who allegedly stabbed a bottle shop worker in Darwin after being refused service has been charged.

Declan Laverty, 20, was allegedly stabbed to death at The Airport Tavern in Darwin on Sunday. Picture: Facebook

The teenager who allegedly stabbed a bottle shop worker in Darwin on Sunday night after being refused service of alcohol has been charged with murder.

19-year-old Keith Kerinauia was arrested on Monday morning after bottle shop worker Declan Laverty, 20, died after being “assaulted with a knife”. He has also been charged with aggravated robbery and will face Darwin Local Court on Tuesday.

Mr Laverty was declared dead upon arrival after emergency services were called just after 9pm at a bottle shop in the northern suburb of Jingili.

Police said two children aged 15 and 16 have also been charged with aggravated robbery for two incidents prior to the alleged, and have been remanded in custody.

A third male, aged 17, was arrested on Monday night was also charged with aggravated robbery. He has been released on bail.

As tributes flowed in on Monday, Mr Laverty’s father told a local radio station his son was a “wonderful, opinionated, strong lad”.

He texted his father saying: “I love you, got stabbed” just ­moments before he died.

Mr White said police believe a separate incident at the Beachfront Hotel in Darwin three hours earlier where “a number of people went into the bottle shop area and (allegedly) attempted to steal items” is linked to the incident.

“In the attempt to apprehend one of the people, the security guard was struck in the head with one of the bottles that was being stolen,” he said.

“The current common denominator is that the vehicle was there at both locations.

“(There is) potentially a third incident earlier in the evening in Karama where a young person was assaulted, and a number of items stolen from them whilst they were on the street.”

Mr White alluded the incident was linked to alcohol addiction.

“Sadly this community suffers from people who have serious ­addiction (to alcohol) and unfortunately for all of us, these people sometimes take to stealing alcohol and put themselves and put the staff that work in these establishments at risk,” he said.

“For us it’s an ongoing issue, it’s a social issue around the reliance on substances to treat their own conditions.

“Whilst it’s not a police matter, it’s certainly a community issue that we all need to look at.”