Four teenagers have been found guilty of murdering 16-year-old Declan Cutler in a street attack in Melbourne.
Declan was walking alone down a dark street when a group of eight children kicked, stomped on and stabbed him in March 2022.
He had just left a party in Reservoir, in Melbourne’s north, and had become separated from his friends.
In the early hours of March 13, a stolen Mazda pulled up and the group of boys got out and pounced on Declan.
In a frenzied two-minute attack, the group stabbed and kicked him as he lay in the nature strip.
The group returned to the car and drove away, but returned briefly to stomp on him again and take off his shoes, before leaving.
Declan Cutler bled to death on the floor after suffering 152 injuries, including 56 stab wounds and 66 blunt force injuries.
Declan bled to death on the floor after suffering 152 injuries, including 56 stab wounds and 66 blunt force injuries.
Supreme Court Justice Rita Incerti on Friday found four of the attackers, known under the pseudonyms SA, DM, QDM and SY, guilty of Declan’s murder.
The boys had gone through a judge-only trial in December, a couple of months after their co-defendant, 13, was determined to be too young to be held criminally responsible.
Three other members of the group were jailed on September 12 for their role in the murder.
A 16-year-old boy, who was the second youngest, was sentenced to up to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to murder.
Two 18-year-olds were sentenced to youth prison terms of three and a half and four years.
Declan Cutler’s father Bryan Beattie reacts outside the Victoria County Court in Melbourne following the guilty verdicts.