A GROUP of young people pleaded with Timothy O’Brien’s alleged killers to stop before fleeing to hide in a nearby paddock, fearing what could happen next, a jury has heard.
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A witness, who cannot be named, told the Supreme Court on Friday that she had only been living at the Scarsdale farmhouse, where Timothy died, for four days prior to the alleged murder.
Timothy, 14, was allegedly killed with an axe in the early hours of January 5 last year after going to the aid of his stepfather, Peter Williams, who had been lured to the house to be bashed.
EARLIER IN THE TRIAL:
Mr Williams’ cousin, Darren Wilson, 34, of Ballarat, is standing trial in the Supreme Court having pleaded not guilty to the murder.
The witness said she and others pleaded with Wilson and his co-accused to stop their alleged attack on the boy.
“I said ‘he’s only a little boy, let him go’,” the witness told the jury.
“They said ‘it has nothing to do with you, he shouldn’t have hit me with the baseball bat’.”
The jury has heard Wilson had hatched a plan with his 16-year-old girlfriend to lure Mr Williams to her home and bash him.
A group of women had driven to Mr Williams’ home and told him they were scared of prowlers.
Mr Williams agreed to follow the women back to their Scarsdale home, accompanied by Timothy, who was armed with a baseball bat.
Timothy was set upon by the co-accused and later Wilson after he hit both of them with the baseball bat, trying to protect his stepfather who was being bashed.
The co-accused is alleged to have punched and strangled Timothy before taking an axe and using its blunt side to hit Timothy.
Wilson is accused of also punching Timothy before taking the axe, turning it to its bladed side and striking Timothy in the head.
The witness on Friday said she hid in a bathroom while trying to call police, but was interrupted by Wilson.
“He had blood all over his face and head,” she told the jury. “I told him to leave because we’re calling the police.
“That’s when all three of us ran to the paddock ... we hid in the grass and started calling the police.”
She said the group then heard a car leave so they returned to the house to find Timothy dead.
“He wasn’t moving or anything. He had blood on his head,” she said.
“He kind of looked like he’d been cut ... on the side of his head.”
The trial before Justice Betty King continues.
