Emily Woods, AAP
A teenager who brought a knife to a gang fight and then fatally stabbed a 15-year-old in the chest has been jailed for two years.
Solomone Taufeulungaki was set upon by a group of teenagers wielding knives and baseball bats in Brimbank Shopping Centre car park in Melbourne’s west.
Following days of fights between two youth gangs, on June 16, 2020, Solomone was dragged to the ground and hit with a baseball bat.
He died after one of the boys, aged 15 at the time, stabbed him through the left side of his chest, piercing his heart.
Solomone was left to die on the ground, as the group of boys fled from the scene after the stabbing.
The young man who inflicted the fatal wound, who cannot be named, is now aged 18 and faced the Supreme Court on Friday where he was jailed after pleading guilty to manslaughter.
Supported by his parents, the teen was expressionless as Justice Amanda Fox jailed him for two years in a youth justice centre.
“You are the one who brandished the knife and you are responsible for the death of Solomone,” she said.
“There were 10 of you and one of him. Several of you had weapons and Solomone was defenceless when your group attacked him in a public place.”
Justice Fox found the teen had good rehabilitation prospects as his family had relocated him to Queensland to be away from the negative influence of youth gangs.
However, she wanted to send a message to young people as she said it was becoming “increasingly common” for them to bring knives to a fight.
“Teenagers are bringing knives to fights with the tragic result that young people are being killed,” she said.
“Brandishing a knife in the course of a group attack against a lone targeted victim makes the act dangerous and more serious.”
The teen has already spent more than seven months in custody, which will be counted as time served.
