A Western Australian father has expressed his anger after his son was hospitalised from an alleged coward punch, calling on the boy who has been charged to face the adult justice system.
John’s 14-year-old son, from Ellenbrook in Perth’s east, suffered a broken jaw and bleeding on the brain in the incident.
Today, the teenager underwent surgery to have metal plates inserted after his jaw was broken in two places.
“They are going to wire part of his teeth together, to try and close the gap,” John told 9News.
The teenager also suffered minor bleeding on the brain when he was allegedly coward punched from behind by a student from his school.
The victim was also allegedly stomped on while he lay on the floor of Ellenbrook Central shopping centre.
John said he was angry the 15-year-old alleged attack had been bailed.
“I am extremely annoyed,” John said.
“My son deserves justice, this child shouldn’t be walking free – he did an adult crime.”
Premier Roger Cook was questioned on whether the alleged attacker should be out on bail three weeks before his court date.
“Well, let’s be clear, police don’t release someone on bail, that is the responsibility of the courts,” Cook said, before being informed the teen was yet to appear in court.
“The police and the court system work together to make sure that people are managed in the appropriate way, so I won’t comment on the court side,” he said.
9News has been made aware of multiple cases of bullying and other violent attacks at Aveley Secondary College over recent years.
It’s also understood more than a dozen families have felt the need to remove their children from the school since it opened because of their concerns.
The principal waited until today to address the latest incident in a letter to parents.
“The school is taking this matter seriously and has taken very strong action with the student,” principal Stephen Pestana wrote.
“This action extends to incidents that occur offsite if there is a connection to the school.”
New Education Minister Sabine Winton hadn’t been briefed on the incident.
“I’ve been in the role [for] two and a half weeks, I’ve had many briefings from the department of education more broadly around the issue of violence,” she said.
“Do I think that the culture of bullying needs to change? Yes,” John said.
“But is that a systemic thing from just this school? Probably not, it’s a societal thing.”
The accused teenager will face court for the first time later this month.
