Teenage gang’s brutal attack hard to fathom
A RELATIVE of a Gold Coast man stabbed in the eye and left fighting for life by a group of Sydney teens who allegedly gloated about the attack is struggling to “fathom how humanity is capable of that”.
Police have arrested nine teenagers over what they claim was a “planned and targeted attack” in Pyrmont, Sydney, on Friday night against innocent 36-year-old dad Brett Halcro, who was visiting Sydney from Melbourne.
Mr Halcro, who grew up on the Gold Coast and attended Merrimac’s All Saints Anglican School, was left in an induced coma. He had been sliced across the face at least seven times, had his head stomped on and is expected to lose sight in one eye.
“I had spoken to him the night before, he was fine,” the relative, who asked not to be named, said. “He left a voicemail earlier that night (of the attack) just indicating he wanted to catch up and he was fine. He’s such a meek and mild individual … completely shy.”
He said the texts the youths sent allegedly boasting about their own brutality were difficult to comprehend.
“It’s incredibly difficult to fathom how humanity is capable of that in the first place,” he said. “Our family is just trying to focus on the recovery.”
Court documents revealed one youth allegedly texted a friend saying: “I put the shattered bottle in his stomach and then (another boy) slit his face like 15 times and stabbed him in the eye.
“He stuck it in his eye. Put it in deeper. And swivelled the knife around. So funny.”
One of the youths charged with affray and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm was released on bail on Monday and emerged from his home wearing a Carlingford High School uniform on Wednesday.
The boy answered “No, no” when approached by the Bulletin before being silenced by his father.
Two other youths fronted Sydney children’s courts on Wednesday, where prosecutors claimed one, a 15-year-old, was part of a social media group chat which showed “pro-criminal mentality”.
“They were gloating about the injuries. They were almost proud of the infliction of the violence,” Sergeant Kai Jiang told Surry Hills Childrenss Court.
Sgt Jiang said the incident was captured on CCTV and mobile phone footage, while witnesses had also given their accounts to police.
Magistrate Jeffrey Hogg denied the 15-year-old bail, saying the group had also discussed taking revenge on anyone who went to the police.
“It is a vile, horrific crime. The injuries are extraordinarily severe and life-changing.”
Another youth, 16, was granted bail in Parramatta Children’s Court on Wednesday on charges of affray and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
His conditions of release included residing with his parents, not leaving home without them unless he is travelling to TAFE and a 7pm-6am curfew.
The NSW Education Department would not confirm whether any of the youths had been expelled from public schools after the incident, saying “as this matter is before the courts we cannot comment”.