Teen on trial for murder over ‘handing knife’ to killer
Rex Martinich
A 15-year-old boy accused of murder was seen handing a knife to another teenager moments before a young man was fatally stabbed, a jury has been told.
Just over three years after the murder, the teenager pleaded in the Brisbane Supreme Court on Monday that he committed murder by aiding or encouraging an older boy.
The young man, who cannot be named because he was a child at the time, was part of a group. conflict between two groups On a street in the Logan suburb of Underwood, south of Brisbane, at 1am on February 24, 2023.
Minutes later, 20-year-old Aiden Rhys Bower-Miles lay dying in a nearby paddock with a deep stab wound.
Crown prosecutor Toby Corsbie told the jury that most people knew how to give someone a kitchen knife to help with cooking.
Corsbie said, “What is alleged in this case does not happen in the kitchen. It happens on the street around one o’clock in the morning when two groups of people who do not know each other start to come together.”
“Words were exchanged and a fight broke out.”
In this context, “If you give someone a knife, what do you know he will do?” Corsbie told the jury.
The jury was told the teenager who stabbed Bower-Miles has not been tried.
A 16-year-old boy at the time was accused of stabbing Bower-Miles with intent to kill or cause him grievous bodily harm.
Judge Elizabeth Wilson had previously told the jury they had to determine whether the 16-year-old had committed murder or manslaughter.
They would then decide whether the then-15-year-old was also responsible, allegedly by giving him the knife or encouraging him to fight, knowing he was armed.
Corsbie said multiple witnesses saw the younger defendant hand the older boy a knife or a metal object before Bower-Miles was stabbed.
The jury heard that an autopsy revealed five blunt force injuries to Bower-Miles’ left arm, consistent with defensive wounds caused by a sharp object.
The fatal wound was an 11-centimeter-deep cut in the collarbone area that severed his subclavian artery and penetrated his lung before terminating in his spine.
Corsbie said the wound prevented Bower-Miles from breathing and was ultimately fatal.
Defense attorney Amelia Anderson asked the jury to keep in mind how young her client was at the time.
“This case begins with two teenagers minding their own business,” he said in a brief opening statement.
“The law protects those confronted by seven mostly intoxicated adults who insist on confronting several boys.”
The lawyer told the jury they would see CCTV evidence that the fight was brief.
“Do you think a 15-year-old boy, in this rapidly evolving situation, had the ability to actually know that his friend was planning to kill?” Anderson said.
The trial is expected to last another six days.
AAP
