A judge has sought clarification on whether a youth’s unprovoked attack on a Somalian refugee was racially motivated.
The youth had pleaded guilty at the Children’s Court to assaulting the Somalian national in December 2008.
The first-time offender, a juvenile at the time of the attack, has since turned 18 and was back in court yesterday for sentencing.
The court had sought a family conference report whereby the Probation Service would organise a plan of restorative justice activities over six months.
Full compliance could leave the defendant without a recorded conviction.
Judge Conal Gibbons noted the victim was a Somalian refugee. He wanted the question of a “racial undertone” to be explored by agencies working with the youth to steer him away from offending. He adjourned the case to Friday.
