‘I wish you the best of luck’: Judge bails accused machete slasher, 14, despite alleged behaviour in jail

A 14-year-old who allegedly nearly hacked off a stranger’s hand with a machete has been wished good luck by a judge after being released on bail, despite claims he had been involved in a string of incidents while in custody.

In one of the first tests of Victoria’s new bail changes, the teenager took his fight for freedom to the Supreme Court, where Justice Christopher Beale said the community would be safer if the teen rehabilitated rather than remained behind bars.

Beale accepted the boy was susceptible to “negative peer influence” from other inmates at the detention centre.

In recent months, he has allegedly repeatedly attacked staff at the centre, both physically and verbally, made sexually inappropriate remarks to female workers, threatened to pour boiling water over others and been forcibly restrained to facilitate time out.

But his grandparents vowed to watch him if he was released and see that he returns to school.

The boy’s alleged victim, 33-year-old Indian national Saurabh Anand, opposed bail, telling the prosecution he still feared for his life after being attacked by a group of teenagers outside a pharmacy at Central Square Shopping Centre in Altona Meadows, in Melbourne’s south-west, on July 19.

Beale said that in some cases, the court may have no choice but to protect the community by locking people up, but felt “we’re not at that stage”.

“Protecting the community has been uppermost in my mind. But rehabilitation serves that public interest,” he said.

“I wish you the best of luck.”

Police allege the 14-year-old was the main attacker and slashed Anand in an unprovoked attack over cigarettes and a phone.

The teen was charged with offences such as armed robbery, intentionally causing serious injury, affray and using a controlled weapon.

A custody manager told the judge the boy had experienced difficulties adjusting to new people and changes in detention since his arrest.

The manager said the 14-year-old had repeatedly threatened and assaulted staff, hidden weapons in his room, absconded from classes, spat on staff and maintained he was gang affiliated.

The prosecution opposed bail, saying the boy should be kept behind bars to protect the public.

The 14-year-old’s grandmother told the court her grandson was a good boy who was always trying to fit in. On the night of the attack she said she thought he was sleeping over at a friend’s house.

She said he now wants to return to school.

“Your grandparents, who love you very much and who you love, have been here every step of the way for you and it’s their support of you which makes it possible for me to release you on bail. You owe it to them to do the right thing,” Beale said.

“Stick to all the bail conditions I’m going to impose and if you do that it’ll make a world of difference with what happens in the children’s court.”

Victoria is grappling with its highest youth crime rate since electronic records began, prompting the state government to pass new laws in March to toughen bail laws.

At the time, Premier Jacinta Allan vowed the reforms would create the toughest bail test in the country for repeat offenders.

An Age investigation into knife crime revealed hospitalisations from knife-related attacks started spiking in 2019, alongside an increase in youth offending. The most recent statistics show the number of knives seized this year has reached record levels.

The government also fast-tracked laws banning machetes after an armed brawl between youth gangs at Northland Shopping Centre in May.

After Thursday’s hearing, Anand, who still has no sensation in his wrist or fingers after the attack, said he was shocked by the bail decision and now feared even more for his safety.

“I cannot understand or accept this,” said Anand, who was in hospital again this week to get treatment for complications from his injuries.

“This group of people nearly killed me and my life has been forever changed by that night. I will never be able to go back to the way I was before this attack.

“To be rehabilitated, the first step is remorse or recognition from him that he has done something wrong. I don’t see any evidence of that yet.”

This was the teen’s second bid for bail after it was denied in August due to a high assessment of risk and a lack of medical evidence supporting his bail application.

At the time, Beale described CCTV footage of the attack on Anand as shocking and said it was through “sheer chance” that he survived.

On Thursday, Beale said the boy’s legal team had evidence from a psychologist and psychiatrist that found he was at risk of being influenced by his peers in custody.

Opposition leader Brad Battin said the reality for Victorians was that Labor’s tough bail laws were anything but, and young offenders were driving the state’s crime crisis.

“But we cannot arrest our way out of this problem alone, so we will provide young people pathways out of crime through programs that steer them toward education, work, and opportunity.”

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