By Erin Pearson
A teenager who allegedly slashed a stranger across the head with a machete on a busy St Kilda street to steal a car wants to be freed on bail following an alleged nine-month crime spree.
This spree, a court heard, included an alleged attack on a night nurse in a foiled carjacking and the 15-year-old boy taking a hunting knife to school ahead of his most recent arrest at Southern Cross train station last week.
A 15-year-old boy accused of a machete attack and armed robbery in St Kilda.Credit: Seven News
The boy, who cannot be named due to his age, was on four counts of bail when police allege he caught the train from regional Victoria to St Kilda with a machete down his pants on January 12.
The court heard the teenager – who lives with disabilities – approached a stranger on Barkly Street with a large machete and allegedly demanded the man hand over his phone and car keys about 9pm.
When the man crossed the road in an attempt to get away, he was followed towards Talbot Reserve, where he was struck to the back of the head with the edged weapon, causing a 10-centimetre-long wound.
Detective Senior Constable Timothy Paltridge from the Port Phillip criminal investigation unit said the man broke free and ran from the scene as members of the public filmed the incident before offering assistance.
News footage of the assault.Credit: Seven News
The accused teenager and another girl, who had been with the 15-year-old, then ran from the scene, police say.
Paltridge said the injured man was seen on CCTV removing his T-shirt and attempted to stem the bleeding from his head, describing it as a “brazen attack” witnessed by numerous people.
The boy was later arrested at Southern Cross Station. The girl walked into a police station and was interviewed and later exonerated.
Paltridge said that during his police interview, the boy made full admissions to attempting to steal the car but denied trying to steal a mobile phone.
The officer said the teen appeared happy to use force, keeping a machete down his pants before the assault, but believed he had slashed the victim with the blunt side of the weapon.
The court heard it was one of a string of violent attacks over which the teenager has been charged.
In April, the teen was charged with theft, handling stolen goods and two robberies at Chadstone Shopping Centre, where he allegedly committed the crimes alongside six to eight other boys.
The court heard that in June the teen allegedly brought a 40-centimetre hunting knife to school, telling staff he needed it for protection.
In September, he was charged over a crime spree in regional Victoria, allegedly involving shop thefts, unlicensed driving, possessing a weapon, car theft and petrol drive-offs.
Paltridge said police allege the teen filmed himself driving at 160km/h and drove on the wrong side of the road while being followed by police.
In a separate alleged crime spree the same month, Paltridge said the teen was charged with carjacking, theft, assault, speeding, driving without a licence and other offences after threatening to stab a person before stealing the car and reaching speeds of up to 180km/h before the car was crashed and dumped on the Princes Freeway at Laverton.
Soon after, the court heard, the teen attempted to carjack a nurse who had just finished her night shift.
Paltridge said the teen was accused of forcing the victim into a headlock and assaulting the stranger before passersby intervened.
In October, he was charged with numerous assault offences and possessing a weapon after a victim was surrounded by the teen and six other boys in his car and slashed with a machete.
In opposing bail, Paltridge said the teen posed an unacceptable risk to the public.
“He attacked someone completely unknown to him ... acting in a vicious and callous way. He used a machete to slash the skull of the victim, [a weapon] capable of cutting through flesh and bone,” Paltridge said.
“He simply said the assault was a way of getting what he wanted.”
The court heard the teenager was also known to post his alleged crimes on social media where he sought and gained notoriety with friends.
“He’s showing no signs of slowing down,” Paltridge said.
“If [the accused] is released on bail again, he will continue to put the innocent lives of the public at risk to get what he wants.
“It appears [he’s] … quite well known in the youth crime community and has a lot of notoriety about him.”
The boy’s lawyer said her client had been attending school before the summer holidays and living with his mother.
However, since his most recent arrest, the boy’s mother no longer wants her son living in the family home, the lawyer said.
Youth Justice, who have withdrawn their bail support services since the teen’s most recent arrest, said the teen had been engaging well in school while on bail before the holidays.
The court heard that when school ended for the year, so did the supervised day programs.
The bail application is expected to continue next month and the teen remains on remand.
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