A 13-year-old boy allegedly killed a Sydney father who was on his way home from work, stabbing the 36-year-old twice after he had stopped to assist a separate group of young people.
The boy, who cannot be legally identified, is accused of murdering the father-of-three near the Westfield and train station in Mount Druitt shortly before 9pm on Friday, in an attack allegedly witnessed by 12 other young people.
The man was attacked after he stopped in the transport precinct to speak to a group of young people, who he recognised as family friends.
He expressed concern about how the group was going to get home, Mount Druitt Police Area Commander Darrin Batchelor said, and had gone to withdraw cash from a nearby ATM for the children when he was stabbed.
“Another group of young people took offence to the conversation the 36-year-old male was having with those young people, and as a result of that we now stand here with that 36-year-old murdered,” Batchelor said on Monday.
“In my 30-year career of policing I find this absolutely senseless.”
Detectives used CCTV of the attack to identify the 13-year-old, who was arrested when he arrived to report as part of his bail conditions for a separate offence at Mount Druitt Police Station on Sunday night. Investigators said the boy was already in breach of his bail at the time of the attack. He was charged with murder, breach of bail and an additional charge of robbery that was unrelated to Friday’s stabbing.
Police are treating the attack as random, saying the group’s meeting with the victim was a chance encounter.
A second boy, 16, was arrested in his Cabramatta home at 8pm on Sunday, charged with accessory to murder after the fact to an offence. Detectives recovered the knife used to kill the man from a drain outside the 16-year-old’s south-west Sydney apartment, according to Batchelor.
The boys spent Sunday night in custody, ahead of appearing in a children’s court on Monday.
At least two other young people present during the attack are expected to be charged, Batchelor said. Police are aware of their identities and addresses, and are preparing the arrests.
“We will say that they were allegedly involved in assault of the victim on Friday night, so those two individuals, who we know, we suggest they hand themselves in as soon as possible,” Batchelor said.
The investigation is continuing as detectives work to determine the circumstances leading to the attack and probe any gangland links.
The man killed on Friday was believed to be known to police, according to Blacktown Police Area Command Superintendent Brendan Gorman.
“It’s a horrendous incident, concerning for police,” he said.
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