Boy who kicked policeman's face sentenced over kicking another man
A boy who kicked a police officer in the face will spend more time in youth detention for kicking another man in the head as he lay on the ground.
The 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was sentenced in the children's court on Thursday to eight months in detention on charges of affray and intentionally causing injury.
However, the boy will be freed much sooner than that as the magistrate ordered the sentence be served concurrently with another term the teenager was given for kicking a police officer at Highpoint Shopping Centre in December last year.
The teen was controversially granted bail after assaulting the police officer and initially avoided a conviction but was later given four months detention on appeal.
On May 10, five months after that brutal attack, the boy was part of a group of seven youths who punched and kicked a 19-year-old man at a cricket oval at a school in Melbourne's western suburbs.
The man was there to pick up a female relative and approached the group after the youths tried to take his relative's phone, according to a summary tendered to court.
When the victim demanded a member of the group stop harassing the girl, the offender confronted him and said: "Don't get in my cousin's face. You're older than him."
After an exchange of punches, the victim fell to the ground where he was set upon by the group, who began to kick and stomp on his head.
A witness described the boy as the main offender who only stopped when he was pushed back from the victim. When he was told to go away, he responded: "Nah, he got into my cousin's face".
The youths were then spotted changing out of their school uniforms in an alley.
The victim suffered injuries to his head, including bruising to his right cheek and swelling to his left eye. He also had "distinctive" shoe impression on the right side of his forehead, according to the police summary.
The boy's lawyer said his client had made "significant efforts" in ensuring similar behaviour wouldn't happen again. He had been going to the gym while on remand and hoped to get into a carpentry course when out of custody, the lawyer said.
"He sees himself as a good role model," the lawyer said.
"For whom?" the magistrate replied.
"For others in custody," the lawyer said.
The lawyer said the youth had been frustrated and under pressure the time of the offence, which was a result of the intense media attention after the police officer attack.
"He has had to do a lot of growing up while in custody," the lawyer said.
In sentencing the boy, the magistrate noted that he had initially been given a "merciful" sentence for kicking the police officer and then shortly after committed another similarly violent offence.
"The violence that you used was extremely dangerous," the magistrate said.