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“Some of you got out of the car, causing Declan and his friends to separate and run away. Declan was not associated with H-Town. Declan was a total stranger to you,” Incerti said on Wednesday.
“Tragically, Declan seemed to be the first person encountered by your group.
One of Declan’s friends at the scene of the attack in the days afterwards.Credit: Penny Stephens
“Declan tried to run away but was dragged down onto the nature strip … and brutally attacked ... by all eight of you.”
Incerti said during two waves of an attack lasting close to two minutes, Declan was kicked, stomped on and repeatedly stabbed – as members of the group passed knives to each other to use – before the offending group drove away and left him dying on the nature strip.
As they left, one of the group was heard yelling to a girl near the party: “He’s around there, he’s dead, Mum’s life, he’s dead.”
A nearby CCTV camera captured footage the judge described as profoundly confronting of the brutal attack.
Sentences handed down for murder
Offender 1 - Now aged 20: Jailed for 18 years with a non-parole period of 12 years
Offender 2 - Now aged 19: Jailed for 19 years and six months with a non-parole period of 14 years and six months
Offender 3 - Now aged 19: Jailed for 17 years and six months with a non-parole period of 12 years
Offender 4 - Now aged 17: Jailed for 19 years with a non-parole period of 14 years
She said the sheer ferocity of the attack only emerged later when an autopsy was conducted. That, she said, found Declan endured 56 sharp force injuries, 30 puncture wounds and 66 blunt force injuries caused by the stomps and kicks that rained down on him.
“Words fail to describe the shocking brutality … on a defenceless teenager. The footage will forever haunt anyone who has seen it,” Incerti said.
Declan didn’t know any of his attackers.
The court heard the effect on Declan’s friends and parents, Bryan Beattie and Samantha Cutler, had been profound, and that the teen was robbed of his most basic right – his right to life.
In a victim impact statement, Beattie said he yearned for an end to knife crime so no other parents had to lose a teenager to a night out with friends.
“As his father powerfully put it, Declan will remain 16 forever,” Incerti said.
Extra security was in place for Wednesday’s sentencing, with 18 security officers sitting inside the courtroom and outside another six, who used special cameras to scan the identities of all who entered.
In sentencing the four males, Incerti noted one posed to take a photo with Declan after the attack while another returned to kick him one final time.
The parole board is expected to decide if the killers remain in youth detention until they turn 21, or are immediately transferred to adult prison.
Messages on the road in tribute to Declan in the days after his death.Credit: Penny Stephens
Two of the four teens were born overseas, and one arrived in Australia in 2005 as part of a refugee program. Another was born in Australia but spent his childhood overseas before returning to Australia as a teenager.
The judge warned the killers that while they would become eligible for parole at different times, it would ultimately be up to the adult parole board to decide if and when they could be released.
Declan’s mother, Samantha Cutler, sat sobbing in the back of the courtroom as the sentences were read out.
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The four teens, seated across two rows in the dock, sat emotionless as they were each jailed for between 17½ and 19½ years.
As two were led from the courtroom, they stopped to shake hands.
Four others involved in the attack have already been dealt with by the court. One, aged 13, was found not guilty by reason of doli incapax, a common law rules that says a child between 10 and 14 does not possess the necessary knowledge to have criminal intention.