Teen cleared of murdering Declan Cutler due to young age charged over violent home invasion

Warning: graphic and distressing content

A boy cleared of murdering teenager Declan Cutler due to his young age is back behind bars after a violent home invasion where a man was stabbed, shot and beaten with a hammer.

Footage of the July home invasion shows four young males forcing their way into a home in Gladstone Park, in Melbourne’s north-west, and attacking 60-year-old Kemal Akbulut repeatedly while demanding his phone and wallet.

Police allege one of the attackers was a 16-year-old boy involved in the 2022 gang killing of Cutler, who has been back in the community since a judge freed him in late 2023.

On Wednesday, police arrested four males aged between 16 and 21 after raiding properties in Tarneit, Mill Park, Meadow Heights in Victoria and Bundaberg in Queensland.

Patrick Alison, 21, and Anthony Taban, 18, were remanded in custody late on Wednesday after being charged with violent offending. A 17-year-old has been arrested in Queensland and is yet to be extradited to Victoria.

The 16-year-old, who cannot be named due to his age, was also remanded in custody after choosing not to apply for bail.

He is facing charges such as aggravated home invasion with a firearm, intentionally causing serious injury in circumstances of gross violence, reckless conduct endangering life, possessing an unregistered handgun, car theft, arson and committing an indictable offence while on bail.

In 2022, the teen, then 13, was charged with murdering 16-year-old Cutler as he walked home from a party in Reservoir.

The boy had been travelling with seven others in a stolen car when the group chased Cutler down, stabbing, kicking and stomping on him on a nature strip, where he bled to death on March 12, 2022. The boy repeatedly kicked and stomped on Declan, but did not stab him.

An examination of Cutler’s body found he suffered more than 100 separate injuries. He was not known to his attackers.

Assistant Commissioner Bob Hill said the “profoundly violent attack” was one of the most vicious and brutal police had ever investigated.

“The entire attack was captured on CCTV footage and lasted approximately two minutes. The footage emits not sounds but screams of horror,” the judge said at the time.

In September 2023, the boy was found not guilty of murder due to his young age, with Supreme Court Justice Rita Incerti saying: “A review of evidence … leaves open reasonable possibility at the time [the boy] did not know conduct seriously wrong in a moral sense. [He] cannot be found guilty of murder.”

Incerti noted the criminal age of responsibility in Victoria is 10, but when a child is younger than 14, the common law presumes the child lacks the capacity to be criminally responsible for their actions.

It is then the prosecution’s role to rebut this presumption and prove the child knew their actions were seriously wrong in a criminal sense. In the 13-year-old’s case, Incerti said this had not been established.

In the lead-up to the 2022 murder trial, the boy appeared via video link, eating chips and laughing, before putting his bare feet up to the camera and flexing his muscles.

During the hearing, the court heard the 13-year-old’s past interactions with police, captured on body cameras, gave the magistrate “a flavour of how he responds to authority”, including his refusal to engage in police interviews since the age of 10.

The court also heard that a 2021 report on the boy found that he displayed very immature responses and a lack of remorse, and laughed at police while being arrested, later telling officers gang culture had influenced his moral code.

At the time of his arrest for murder, he had 44 prior charges, much of which had been dismissed by the courts for outbursts of violence.

After a year in custody, the boy was released back into the community before being rearrested this week on fresh charges of violence.

A video posted online purporting to be of the home invasion shows the males, with their faces covered, repeatedly attacking a man with a hammer and a knife while he screams and pleads for help.

“I’ll give you whatever you want … please, please,” the injured man is heard saying.

“Oh my God. Please just take what you want.”

He is then further stabbed and struck with the hammer as he lies on the ground.

“I can’t take any more. Please don’t hit me any more,” the man says.

“Where’s the money, where’s the money, where’s the money, where’s the fucking money,” one of the attackers yells back.

Court documents released to the press show co-accused Taban is facing 16 charges, including stealing a gold watch, cash and two cars – a $25,000 Haval Jolion and a $60,000 BMW.

Magistrate William Parker ordered Taban and Alison to return to court in January.

The 16-year-old is expected to return to a children’s court later this year.

If you or someone you know needs help, phone Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800.

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