‘He stuck it in his eye. Put it in deeper and swivelled the knife around. So funny.’
This is just one of the shocking text messages a 15-year-old boy allegedly sent his mates after he and a gang of youths from some of Sydney’s top private schools allegedly stabbed and bashed a man in inner-city Pyrmont on Friday night.
Some texts allegedly sent by the teenager are so graphic Daily Mail Australia has chosen not to publish them, and a magistrate on Tuesday called them the worst thing she has read in all her time working in law.
Police allege the text messages were sent just hours after a group of up to eight had ambushed the man, knocking him to the ground and kicking and punching his head.
The victim, a 36-year-old man, was left blind and put into a coma after the alleged attack.
In the messages the accused allegedly brags to his friend in horrific detail about how the man was left blinded after being stabbed in the eye.
The young man allegedly claimed seeing it unfold in front of him made him laugh.
Eight teenagers have been arrested over a shocking stabbing attack on a 36-year-old man at Pyrmont, in Sydney, about 11pm on Friday night. The alleged assault by a group of youths (Pictured is a youth charged over the stabbing who cannot be identified) left the man in a coma and blind in one eye
A 15-year-old allegedly sent these shocking text messages to a mate in the hours after he and his gang of mates allegedly bashed and stabbed their victim, leaving him blind in one eye and in a coma. He allegedly detailed the incident in depth and claimed that seeing the incident unfold in front of him was ‘so funny’
‘I stomped on him and gutted his head he got knocked out after I bottled him on the head,’ the youngster allegedly wrote in one text message.
‘I put the shattered bottle in his stomach and then jetted (a co-accused) slit his face like 15 times and stabbed him in the eye.’
It is believed the alleged attacker was then asked by his friend if he knew the man.
‘Nah mate. Ahahahaha he was in the wrong place at the wrong time,’ he allegedly replied.
‘He (a co-accused) stuck it in his eye. Put it in deeper and swivelled the knife around. So funny.’
The messages were tendered to Magistrate Mary Ryan in the Surry Hill’s Children’s Court on Tuesday as two of the accused attackers applied for bail.
The first of them, the 15-year-old who allegedly sent the text messages, was described by his shattered mother as a ‘sweet boy’ outside court.
But while Magistrate Ryan acknowledge that he had no criminal history, she said that in light of reading the text messages he allegedly sent there was no way he could be released from juvenile detention.
‘Bail must be refused and with good reason, that I will detail so the community know why I am refusing bail for a 15-year-old with no previous criminal history,’ she said.
‘The facts before me and the actions taken by these young persons are abhorrent. It is reading that offends the normal notions of what a civil society is.
‘There is an indication of his thoughts in the form of text messages (he allegedly sent) that are so concerning, that it is just something I’ve not read as facts from an adult who has carried out an offence – let alone a young 15-year-old.
The shocking allegations were revealed as two teenagers faced Surry Hills Children’s Court on Tuesday over the assault, with police prosecutor Peter Mort calling it a ‘sickening’ attack and ‘violence of the highest order’, and flagging that they would likely be dealt with in an adult court
‘As an adult, as a mother, as a grandmother, it is very upsetting that this young person has allegedly behaved in this manner and reported back to his friends about his behaviour.’
The alleged messages, combined with CCTV and mobile phone footage, and the accounts of eyewitnesses, are set to form a major part of the police case against eight teenagers.
The group, who ranged in age from 15 to 18, had hired an Airbnb in the city for Friday night.
It is understood the alleged attack may have been sparked by two girls who were among the group claiming they had been ‘raped’ or ‘groped’ by the victim.
The court heard that in the moments before the alleged bashing, one of the girls was asked: ‘Is that the one who raped you?’ to which she allegedly replied: ‘Yeah that’s the one’.
But NSW Police have said in court documents that the man was an ‘innocent victim’.
Police prosecutor Peter Mort detailed allegations that while other youths fled as the man lay in agony, the 15-year-old remained behind stomping on the victim’s head.
He said the youngster had been arrested at school on Monday and found a backpack allegedly matching one that could be seen in the phone video shot by a witness.
‘We have evidence from a mobile phone, from a witness from a balcony nearby that we allege captures the incident,’ Mr Mort said.
Magistrate Mary Ryan told Surry Hills Children’s Court that in all her years working in the legal system she ‘has never read anything so abhorrent’ as the details of the alleged attack (Police are pictured at the scene of the attack)
A 15-year-old was arrested by police at his school on Monday and charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and affray (Pictured are objects left at the scene of the alleged assault)
The alleged attackers and some friends had rented an Airbnb in the city for the night and CCTV footage from the apartment will be used in evidence.
‘We have direct evidence from a witness, being what they saw and heard. They were in the proximity and they heard the words: ‘”They’re going to stab him”.
‘We allege this young person is seen stomping on the head of the victim while he is on the ground. The victim was unable to protect himself.
‘We will allege a number of people from that group fled while he continued to stomp on the victim, and another co-accused joined.
‘A co-offender (allegedly) slashed the face of this male whilst he was on the ground.’
He was charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and affray.
Mr Mort said the scene that confronted paramedics and police when they arrived on Saturday night ‘would have been incredibly distressing’.
The teenager’s parents and sister sat in court as his solicitor Peter Linegar applied for bail unsuccessfully.
It is understood the alleged attack may have been sparked by two girls who were among the group claiming they had been ‘raped’ or ‘groped’ by the victim, but NSW Police have said the man was an ‘innocent victim’
There are serious fears the victim will lose his eye following the alleged attack
The 15-year-old boy was refused bail over the alleged attack, while his 16-year-old co-accused was allowed to go home under strict conditions
One of his co-accused who was arrested on Sunday returned to court on Tuesday to make his bid for bail.
The 16-year-old’s parents broke down in tears as Magistrate Ryan allowed him to be released from prison and placed into what she described as ‘home detention’.
His parents had submitted they would take time away from work and essentially see him confined to home detention when not at school, if he was granted bail.
‘His mum is working from home and his father has taken leave and will take more time off if necessary,’ the youngster’s solicitor Peter O’Brien told the court.
‘He has just recently had his 16th birthday and you have read, and I do not intend to regurgitate, his tremendous family support.’
In granting bail, Magistrate Ryan said the allegations against him were ‘different’ to those against his co-accused.
The youths are due to reappear before Surry Hills Children’s Court (pictured) on September 29
‘This is a different set of facts. We don’t know how many punches were inflicted and we don’’t know where those punches landed,’ she said.
‘The young person was cooperative with police which indicates to me there is some remorse here. He also indicated the name of the main assailant.’
Magistrate Ryan ordered the teenager – who she said was on a scholarship at his high school – be driven to and from school by his parents, and not contact his co-accused on social media.
The youths will reappear in court on September 29.
Late on Tuesday afternoon police charged an eighth youth over the violent attack. The 15-year-old will face Surry Hills Children’s Court on Wednesday.