Melbourne Children’s Court Charges
The 16-year-old client was charged with Recklessly Causing Injury x 3 and Unlawful Assault with a Weapon x 3 in relation to an incident that occurred in Box Hill.
Facts
The client was walking through the park with a friend after having three beers at his mate’s house. As the client walked past a family of two parents with their daughter, he put up his hand and asked for a high five. This was ignored and led the client to verbally abuse the complainants. The father hit the client with his walking stick, the client’s mate jumped to his friend’s defence and a 3-way brawl ensued.
Results
There was a possibility the boys could be acquitted on the basis of self defence. However the client had no prior criminal history and so was prepared to accept responsibility for the crime on the basis he was recommended for Ropes, a course that young defendants can complete to avoid a criminal record.
The problem here was the serious nature of the charges. However, the prosecutor seemed fairly open to the idea and, given the strong support from the client’s parents, the Magistrate decided to allow the client one chance. The client walked away with no criminal record.
It was a surprising but welcome outcome for the client as his record was kept completely clean and he did not have to go through the ordeal of giving evidence in Court.
