Arabic version: منح المتهم في حادثة طعن بمدرسة في كيرنز إفراجاً مشروطاً صارماً

According to ABC News, a 15-year-old boy charged after an alleged stabbing at a Cairns high school has been granted bail under strict conditions, while the other 15-year-old involved has been discharged from Cairns Hospital without surgery.

The injured teenager spent a week in hospital after suffering a wound to his right side that pierced his liver, as well as six small lacerations or scratches. The boys were involved in a fight during the first break on the first day of the new school term a week earlier. Police have an 18-second video of the fight, and the court heard witnesses separated the boys after seeing blood.

The accused appeared in Cairns Children’s Court charged with acts intended to cause grievous bodily harm. His lawyer, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services representative Steven Baso, submitted 18 images of a conversation between the boys and said a disagreement in social media messages had begun early in the winter school holidays before escalating the night before the fight.

Acting Magistrate Kellie Walker said the messages presented “a different picture” of the background to the fight than the police bail affidavit. She accepted that the defendant had not challenged the complainant, was not the aggressor, had not arranged for someone to bring a knife to school, and that the fight was not over a girl. The magistrate also said the prosecution case on alleged premeditation had been weakened by the material presented.

Police opposed bail, arguing the boy posed an unacceptable risk to the community. His conditions include a 24-hour curfew, a ban on attending school and using social media, and no contact with the other teenager or school witnesses. The accused may return to his residential care home and is not required to attend when his lawyer next presents the case in the children’s court in early September.