The Court: Melbourne Children’s Court
The Lawyer: Kieran Burke
The Charges:
The Allegations:
The 16-year-old client was walking through a park with a friend in Box Hill after having had three beers at his friend’s house. As the client was walking past a family including a mother, father and their young child, he put up his hand and asked the family for a high five. This was ignored and led the client to abuse the complainants verbally. The father hit the client with his walking stick, and the client’s friend jumped to his friend’s defence, and a three-way brawl ensued. Our client was able to take the walking stick off the complainant and used it to assault the complainant.
At Court:
Our solicitor was of the view that the client and his friend could be acquitted on the grounds of self-defence. The client had no prior criminal history, so was prepared to accept responsibility for the crime on the basis of being recommended for Ropes. Ropes is a course that young defendants can complete to avoid a criminal record.
The problem here was the serious nature of the charges. Particularly because a very young child was witness to the assault and because our client used the walking stick as a weapon during the assault. Our solicitor negotiated with the prosecutors and was able to persuade them to recommend Ropes for our client.
The Outcome:
The client had strong support from his family, was remorseful for the offence and had no prior involvement with the criminal justice system. The matter went before the Magistrate, who was prepared to give the client an opportunity on the Ropes Program. The client also walked away with no criminal record.
This was a surprising but welcome outcome for the client, as his record remained completely clean, and he did not have to go through the ordeal of giving evidence in Court.
