Men involved in the death of Perth schoolboy Cassius Turvey, 15, to be sentenced in the WA Supreme Court

Five people who were involved in a series of events that led to the horrific murder of Perth schoolboy Cassius Turvey, 15, will learn their fate for their role in the shocking crimes that rocked Australia. The WA Supreme Court will hand down sentences to Jack Brearley, 24, and Brodie Palmer, 30, who were both found guilty of murdering Cassius who was struck with a metal pole after school on October 13, 2022. The 15-year old boy died from his injuries in hospital 10 days later. His death led to an outpouring of grief around the nation that saw thousands of people attend vigils to honour the Perth schoolboy. Mitchel Forth, 27, and Aleesha Gilmore, 23, were also charged with murder over the boy’s death. But a jury found Forth not guilty of Cassius’ murder but guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter. Gilmore was found not guilty of both murder and manslaughter. A fifth man, Ethan McKenzie, 21, was not charged with murder but faced other charges over a separate incident involving Brearley, Gilmore and Forth four days before Cassius was killed. The jury found them guilty of all other charges, including the deprivation of liberty of two boys who were held against their will four days earlier. Gilmore and McKenzie applied for bail for time already served ahead of sentencing in June, but bail was opposed by the state for both offenders. The group denied all allegations related to a series of events in the lead-up to Cassius’s death. Throughout the trial, the court was told Brearley delivered the fatal blows, but his co-accused all shared a common purpose when they set out that day. The violence was sparked days earlier on October 9, 2022, when Gilmore’s teenage brother became involved in a love triangle. Gilmore’s brother feared he would be mobbed, so Gilmore – along with her boyfriend Brearley, Forth, and McKenzie – drove through suburbs in Perth’s east looking for the boys who had threatened him, the court was told. The jury was told how the group of 20-somethings chased down a group of children – unrelated to these events – and snatched two of them off streets in Perth’s east on October 9, 2022. The two boys were forced into their car at knifepoint and held against their will. One of the boys told the court that he tried to flee on foot but was chased down, punched, kicked and stabbed on a suburban street in Swan View before he was forced to get into their car. Three days later, Brearley’s car windows were smashed by a group of schoolchildren in retaliation. The court was told Gilmore’s brothers contacted her about fights that were planned and people who threatened to run through their house if they failed to show up on October 13, 2022. She and her co-accused were at Palmer’s house in the Perth hills when she started receiving the messages from her brother. CCTV footage captured Brearley saying, “Somebody smashed my car – they’re about to die,” before they left in Palmer’s car. They drove to Gilmore’s home, where the state alleged the group collected weapons and tore handles off shopping trolleys in an alleyway next to the house, loading them into Palmer’s car. It was alleged the group took off with the common goal of looking for school kids. The jury was told the three men – minus Gilmore, who had got out after an earlier argument with Brearley – pulled up near a group of about 20 kids. Allegedly armed with metal poles, the trio abused the children and accused them of smashing their car windows. The court was told as one child was allegedly shoved to the ground and assaulted, the others, including Cassius, scattered into the bushland to try to escape the men. The state alleged Brearley chased after and caught up with Cassius, knocking him to the ground and striking the 15-year old twice with a metal pole. Cassius managed to walk to his group of friends after he had been attacked despite suffering multiple head injuries – including a laceration to his forehead and split ear – as they had gathered a short distance away at a nearby TAFE. Paramedics arrived and treated Cassius, who was transferred to the Perth Children’s Hospital and sent home on October 18, but he was re-admitted to the Midland Hospital after he suffered seizures hours later. He died in hospital days later. Brearley denied all allegations against him and said it was Cassius who stabbed him first, then blamed Palmer for inflicting the fatal blows to the schoolboy. Palmer maintained he was in his vehicle when the fatal attack happened and heard Brearley call out he’d been stabbed. He claimed he saw Cassius covered in blood when he approached them.