Supreme Court clear 14 year old boy involved in gang attack

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A Supreme Court judge has cleared a 14-year-old boy of murder, despite his involvement in a frenzied gang attack that claimed the life of a teenager. The boy, who can't be identified for legal reasons, was part of a group who ambushed and stabbed 16-year-old Declan Cutler in Melbourne’s north last year.

Transcript

00:00 16-year-old Declan Cutler was leaving a party last year in Melbourne's north when he was

00:06 ambushed by a group of eight teenagers.

00:09 Declan was knocked to the ground and then was repeatedly stabbed in a frenzied attack

00:14 that lasted for two minutes.

00:16 The entire incident was captured on CCTV footage.

00:20 Police charged eight teenagers over the incident, including a 14-year-old boy who was charged

00:26 with murder.

00:27 He was just 13 years old at the time of the incident.

00:30 Police said this boy wasn't actually armed with a knife and didn't stab Declan, but was

00:35 involved in kicking him during the attack.

00:38 They still pursued him for murder though, saying that he was part of a group agreement

00:42 to carry out a violent act that night.

00:46 In Victoria there's an additional threshold that has to be met for youth offenders to

00:50 be found guilty, and this applies to people aged between 10 and 14.

00:56 It's a legal principle called Dolly Incapacs, and it means that prosecutors have to prove

01:01 that the accused person knew that their actions were morally wrong.

01:06 So this boy, he faced a lengthy judge-only trial in the Supreme Court, and today Justice

01:12 Rita Inserti announced that after considering all of the evidence, there was a reasonable

01:17 prospect that this boy did not know what he was doing was morally wrong.

01:23 As a result, she ruled that the 14-year-old was not guilty.

01:27 The announcement of that verdict triggered really emotional scenes in the courtroom.

01:32 Declan Cutler's family was in court to hear the verdict, and there was loud screaming

01:37 and crying as that verdict was read out.

01:41 Declan's family spoke to the media after the hearing.

01:43 Let's take a listen at what they had to say.

01:46 Any kid should be allowed to walk home from a party, whether it's 2.30 in the morning

01:50 when you're 16, or 5.30.

01:52 No kid should have to walk around Melbourne feeling unsafe.

01:54 Last week, three of the other people involved in the attack on Declan were sentenced in

01:58 court, including one who was jailed for 15 years for murder.

02:03 Four others will face court at a later date.

02:05 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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