Four teenagers have been jailed for murdering a defenceless 16-year-old boy in a frenzied and brutal street attack in Melbourne.
Declan Cutler was walking alone down a dark street in the north of the city when a group of eight youths kicked, stamped and stabbed him in March 2022.
He had just left a party in Reservoir and became separated from his two friends when a stolen Mazda pulled up alongside him at around 2.30am on March 13.
The group of boys ran out of the car and pounced on Declan, stabbing and kicking him as he lay on the nature strip.
The group returned to the car after the two-minute attack and drove off, before returning to stomp on him again and take his shoes.
Declan bled to death on the floor after suffering 152 injuries, including 56 stab wounds and 66 blunt force injuries.
The entire attack was captured on security cameras.
In February, Victorian Supreme Court judge Rita Incerti found four of the attackers, known by the aliases SA, DM, QDM and SY, guilty of Declan’s murder.
Four teenagers have been jailed for murdering defenceless 16-year-old Declan Cutler (pictured) in a frenzied and brutal street attack in Melbourne.
Declan’s mother, Samantha Cutler, was in court Wednesday to watch the sentencing.
The verdict was handed down on Wednesday morning, describing the attack as two frenzied minutes of “incalculable inhumanity.”
The boy known as SA was sentenced to 19 years in prison with a non-parole period of 14 years, while QDM will be behind bars for 19 years and six months.
He will be eligible for parole after 14 years and six months.
SY and DM were also sentenced to 18 years and 17 years and six months in prison respectively, but will each be eligible for parole after 12 years.
Judge Incerti recommended that the four boys remain in juvenile detention until they turn 21, when they will be transferred to an adult prison.
Declan’s biological father, Bryan Beattie, reacted emotionally at an earlier hearing
Declan Cutler was walking alone down a dark street in the north of the city when a group of eight boys kicked, stomped and stabbed him in March 2022.
The boys’ 13-year-old co-defendant walked free from court on Sept. 20 after it was determined he was too young to be held criminally responsible for the killing.
Three other members of the group were jailed a week earlier for their role in the murder.
A 16-year-old boy, who was 14 at the time of the attack, was jailed for up to 15 years after pleading guilty to murder.
Two 18-year-olds, who were 16 when they were charged, were sentenced to juvenile detention terms of three and a half years and four years.
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