Balin Stewart’s teenage killer sentenced to seven years’ detention

The teenager who killed Sunshine Coast schoolboy Balin Stewart has been sentenced to seven years’ detention, but will be released on parole in half that time.

• ‘Court’s hands tied’: Family’s disappointment

The teenager who killed Sunshine Coast schoolboy Balin Stewart has been sentenced to seven years’ detention, but will be released on parole in half that time.

Justice Elizabeth Wilson found the 19-year-old, who was 17 at the time he fatally stabbed Balin, intended to at least cause bodily harm, meaning he was dealt with more harshly by the court.

Had the finding of intent not been made by the judge, the defendant could have been sentenced to as little as four years.

Ninety days in detention were declared time already served meaning the teen will be released from custody in late 2026 when he is aged 22.

“Ultimately in this case I am satisfied to the requisite standard, bearing in mind the consequences, that you intended to at least cause Balin grievous bodily harm but you were acting under the partial defence of provocation,” she said.

The provocation came in the form of videos that Balin and a female friend had sent the boy in which they posed semi-naked in provocative positions, pretending to kiss and slapping each other on the bum.

She accepted the defendant took a knife with him in the context of events earlier that night when he was warned by a friend not to come to a party because Balin and his friends were there, that they wanted to fight him and may have been armed with knives.

Balin Stewart died near his home at Buddina in January last year.

Justice Wilson said the offence occurred against a backdrop of “significant animosity” from the defendant towards Balin sparked by their relationships with the teenage girl.

“Today is a terribly sad day,” Justice Wilson said.

“Today a teenager is being sentenced for killing a teenager.”

Justice wilsons accepted the teen had been immediately remorseful, telling people at the crime scene he was sorry with his first comments on the Triple 0 call recorded as “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m calling an ambulance”.

The sentence comes after a dramatic day in Brisbane Supreme Court, with an emotional victim impact statement delivered by Balin’s father followed by the accused addressing the court in a rare move.

Justice wilsons described Mr Stewart’s statement as “heartbreaking and harrowing”.

“(His statement) is titled what you have taken from me,” she said.

“You … have taken so much, you have taken a son, a brother, a grandson, a nephew, a cousin and friend. You have taken Balin away from them. The ripples of grief spread far and wide.

“There is no greater impact from a crime than the loss of life. He was only 16 years of age with a life full of promise and when he lost his life because of your actions, his ability to live a long and fulfilling life was terminated at your hands and the consequences for Balin’s family and friends are devastating, they are profoundly grave, they are life shattering, they are life long as attested to by Michael Stewart.

“Balin’s parents sat in the trial every day, they have listened to horrific evidence and they have done so with dignity and grace.”

The teen earlier told the court he had “no words for what he heard” after receiving a copy of a victim impact statement from Balin’s family.

Balin was stabbed in the heart with a kitchen knife during a brawl at Buddina on January 20 last year.

There had been simmering tension between Balin and his killer for some time, owing in part to their respective relationships with a teenage girl.

After returning from a party, Balin and the girl were in his room when they decided to send the other boy picture and video messages over Instagram.

The girl later told police the messages were sent to “provoke him” but that they never expected the defendant would come to Balin’s house.

The two teenage boys fought outside Balin’s house before the defendant used a kitchen knife he had brought with him to stab the younger boy in the chest.

Michael Stewart arrives at Brisbane Supreme Court for the sentencing of his son’s killer. Picture: NCA NewsWIRE / John Gass

During his trial, the defendant said he threw a punch at Balin’s chest, without realising he was holding the knife in that hand.

He was found not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter.

Balin’s father Michael Stewart addressed his son’s killer, telling him he will never forgive him.

“I just want you to know what you’ve taken from me,” Mr Stewart said. “My heart aches every day.”

He spoke of missing his son’s beautiful smile and infectious laugh and how the killer had robbed him of hugging his son or watching him excel in life.

“No longer can I give fatherly advice as I should have done for many years to come,” he said.

“I will never get to shake his hand at his 18th birthday which is next week, share a celebratory beer with him, see him walk down the wedding aisle, I will never even get to meet his future wife, I won’t be able to hold any of his future children.

“Knowing I won’t be a grandfather to his children is torture alone.”

Mr Stewart, who tried to revive his son after he was stabbed on his front lawn, described the harrowing experience of telling family and friends Balin had been killed.

“You’ve taken my peace of mind, you have imprinted that night in my brain, I wake up each day with my lips on his mouth and the bubbling in his chest,” he said.

“You’ve stolen my ability to sleep peacefully and as I close my eyes I relive that night.

“I have no peace anymore.”

He said Balin’s friends, many of whom dropped out of school after his death, still regularly came to sit in his bedroom and cry for their lost friend.

Mr Stewart said dozens of lives had been “destroyed and broken in an instant that night” but none more so than his wife Kerri-Lyn.

“Kerri-Lyn was a beacon, the lighthouse, the pillar of strength of our family and now she is just a shell of her former self, barely recognisable,” he said.

“You not only stole her son, you stole her life as she knew it.”

“The heartache and pain you have caused Kerri-Lyn is indescribable, every day she cries for Balin.

Balin Stewart died after being stabbed in the heart near his home.

“She’s become immeasurably depressed, a lady who would never consider taking an antidepressant now can’t survive without them.

“Her self-worth has diminished to the point that she has wanted to join Balin.

“How dare you take so much from so many. Why? All because you were jealous, because you were weak and picked up a knife that night.”

Mr Stewart said enduring the trial was a nightmare for the family as they were forced to relive their son’s death over and over.

“Making us listen to that Triple 0 call just transported us back to that time that night,” he said.

“Seeing Balin’s bruised and battered body covered in grass and dirt in those autopsy photos was insufferable.

“Listening to your version of events designed to create uncertainty and confusion made us feel sick to the core. I can’t believe you were not content with what you had already taken from us being Balin’s life.

“But then you had to take what little peace of mind we had left. We had some comfort that Balin had passed quickly which you disputed as part of your defence. How dare you.

“Watching how cold and callous and calculated you answered those questions during that trial removed any compassion, sympathy or empathy I had for you prior.”

Mr Stewart broke down as he described the pain inflicted by the teenage killer.

“You might pretend to be sorry, you might pretend to be remorseful, you may struggle with what you have done but nothing will bring my son home, nothing will ever be the same for my family and friends,” he said.

“You’ve robbed us all. I will never forgive you, never.”

In a rare move, the young offender addressed the court, reading a statement he had prepared earlier.

“Your honour, firstly I’d like to give my condolences to Michael, Kerri-Lyn and the family and friends of Balin,” he said.

“I cannot express how sorry I am for my actions and invite and accept the sentence which I shall receive.

“Looking back to that night I wonder about all of the things I could have done different. I did not intend for that night to end like it did.”

The court heard the boy was given a copy of the family’s victim impact statement prior to the sentence hearing.

Michael and Kerri-Lyn Stewart at Brisbane Supreme Court. Picture: NCA NewsWIRE / John Gass

“Upon hearing Mr Stewart’s victim impact statement I did not know what to think and have no words for what I heard,” he said.

“I feel awful for the pain I have caused and I am truly sorry.”

The maximum penalty for a juvenile convicted of manslaughter is 10 years’ imprisonment, unless the court makes a finding the offending is particularly heinous.

The crown is not pursuing that declaration in this case.

Crown Prosecutor Rebecca Marks submitted the defendant should be sentenced to a term of imprisonment in the range of seven to eight years.

The prosecutor submitted Justice Wilson should make a factual finding that the defendant had an intent to at least cause grievous bodily harm and that the jury had accepted his partial defence of provocation in reaching its verdict on the murder charge.

Ms Marks described the attack as “cowardly” and urged the court to impose a sentence that would reflect the community’s denunciation of the “prevalent offending of knife attacks by juveniles”.

Ms Marks said the defendant had tried to exculpate himself by pleading absolute defences of accident and self defence.

She said the teen’s version was “utterly implausible” and “entirely inconsistent” with the account given by the sole eye witness.

Defence barrister Charlotte Smith said her client had made two offers to plead guilty to manslaughter but the crown rejected both submissions, opting to proceed with the murder trial.

She submitted the court should find the defendant had no intention to kill or cause grievous bodily harm when he committed the offence.

Ms Smith said her client had suffered considerable trauma in his childhood and that as a young boy, he returned home with his grandmother to discover his mother’s body after she took her own life.

The court heard the defendant was on school holidays at the time of the killing and had been due to start Year 12 when the break ended. He has not finished his schooling as a result of the charges.

Ms Smith said the boy had been a good student and a promising football player and he was unsure of his plans for the future.

Originally published as Balin Stewart’s teenage killer sentenced to seven years’ detention