Teenage Geraldton girl gets bail despite admitting to part in ‘horrendous’ attack on 11-year-old

A teenager who planned and launched a “horrendous” bullying attack on an 11-year-old girl has been let out on bail despite being told she should be “ashamed” of her actions. The 14-year-old attacker breached a court order by taking part in the attack, but has been allowed out of custody with a magistrate warning her she has to “wise up” if she wants to avoid detention. On December 15, the teen, as well as a friend, ganged up on the young girl in a planned attack, grabbing her by the hair and pulling her to the ground. Once on the ground, the 14-year old began punching, kicking and stomping on her victim. The terrifying attack was filmed and posted on social media, and was also captured on CCTV. The teenager faced Geraldton Children’s Court last week via video link from custody, having pleaded guilty to assault. Her lawyer, Fintan Roberts, said she wanted to be given the opportunity to prove she could behave. Police prosecutor Sergeant Dean Solman said the community was becoming frustrated and concerned about the number of children being assaulted. “People are fired up about children being attacked,” Sgt Solman said. “There has been a lot of angst.” Magistrate Angus Hockton described the vicious assault as a “cowardly bullying attack” of which the girl should be ashamed. She was already on a court order at the time of the attack and Mr Hockton said there was a real chance she could end up in detention if she did not clean up her act. “You are really on the edge,” he said. Mr Hockton said he did not want to send the girl to detention due to her age and encouraged her to use her time on bail to show she could avoid trouble. “Time to wise up and do what you are expected to do,” he said. The girl will be on bail with a curfew from 7pm to 7am. She will return to court on March 28.