A 17-year-old boy who fatally stabbed a teenager at Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast more than two years ago has been sentenced to 10 years in jail but will only spend seven years in custody.
Jack Beasley died after being stabbed once in the chest in December 2019.
Five teenage boys, aged between 15 and 18 at the time, were originally charged over the 17-year-old’s death, but three were acquitted of his manslaughter at a judge-only trial last month.
The remaining two, including a 17-year-old boy, faced a sentencing hearing in Brisbane on Friday after he pleaded guilty to murder earlier this year, admitting to inflicting the fatal wound.
A 20-year-old man pleaded guilty to his manslaughter, accepting he had a common purpose to assault Mr Beasley and his friends, and that an unlawful killing would be a “probable consequence.”
The pair – who cannot be named due to youth justice laws – have also pleaded guilty to two counts each of grievous bodily harm in relation to the stabbing of one of Mr Beasley’s friends, who was seriously injured.
Knife used in ‘senseless’ way amid brawl
During a sentencing hearing on Friday, the court heard the group of teens had crossed paths with Mr Beasley and his friends, who were not known to them, and they had hatched a plan to chase them and pick a fight.
Crown Prosecutor Todd Fuller told the court the older offender took “a lead role” and was one of the “main protagonists” who “instigated the violence” with Mr Beasley.
“He was actively involved in the altercation from the start to finish,” he said.
The court heard a physical fight then broke out between some members of the two groups, including Mr Beasley.
Mr Fuller told the court the younger teen then “escalated the level of violence” by using the knife “offensively rather than defensively” and in a “senseless” way.
“The grave nature of his offending speaks for itself,” he said.
‘Left to die on the footpath’
Reading a victim impact statement to the court through tears, Mr Beasley’s mother Belinda Beasley addressed the teens who were sitting in the dock, calling them “cowards.”
“You ran away… and left Jack and [his friend] to die on the footpath with not a care in the world – what sort of people are you?” she said.
“In that one moment you destroyed so many people’s lives.”
Mrs Beasley described her son as a “beautiful boy” who was “cheeky, fun-loving and easy going” and said his death had turned her life into a “living nightmare”.
“The pain you have brought to our family is indescribable,” she said.
“To lose a child in the way we lost Jack altered our lives forever.
“Being a juvenile is no excuse – everyone knows right from wrong.”
‘Deeply tragic’
In a written statement by the younger teen, read by his defense lawyer James Benjamin, he said he took “full responsibility for my actions and hold myself accountable.”
“I understand I may never be forgiven but I hope one day I will be,” he said in the statement.
The 17-year-old then stood in court and told the judge: “I’m very, very sorry.”
Justice Soraya Ryan described the offenses as “profoundly tragic” and said they had “heartbreaking consequences” for Mr Beasley’s family and wider community implications.
“Good parents of young people are scared when their children leave home to go out because of people like you and your companions,” he said.
Justice Ryan sentenced the 17-year-old boy to 10 years in jail and ordered him to serve 70 per cent of the term.
The 20-year-old man was sentenced to seven years in jail and will be eligible for parole in 12 months.
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