A teenager who helped carry out a street knife assault in Launceston has avoided jail, with a judge citing his age and secondary role in the violence.
The 19-year-old, who was 17 at the time of the March 2023 incident, was sentenced to an 18-month community corrections order and must complete 112 hours of community service for his role in the George Street incident.
Supreme Court Justice Robert Pearce said the teenager was responsible for two counts of assault as a party to the offences, though he was acquitted of the more serious wounding charge.
The assault followed a “shouting match” between people inside a George Street unit and a group of young people on the street below in the early hours of Sunday March 26, 2023.
Although initially safe inside the apartment, the teenager and his co-accused, Sean Hudson, 48, went outside to confront the group. Hudson was armed with a knife.
“You both walked purposefully and aggressively to both men without pausing in circumstances in which it was obvious that by then they posed no threat to anyone,” Justice Pearce said in his published comments.
The court heard both victims were walking away when confronted and attempted to retreat during the assault. One was left with a three-centimetre wound that required hospital treatment.
Justice Pearce dismissed claims of self-defence, ruling the pair were “the aggressors” who “created the situation which led to the violent conflict”.
He noted the teenager had shown “little sign of any remorse” and initially denied involvement to police, but said his youth was a significant factor.
“I am satisfied that you were led by Mr Hudson and you were unlikely to have acted as you did but for his presence,” Justice Pearce said.
Hudson was separately convicted of wounding and assault.
