NT: Youth attacks itinerants for payback: court

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NT: Youth attacks itinerants for payback: court

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By Rod McGuirk

DARWIN, April 23 AAP - A 16-year-old youth joined a violent rampage against homelessAborigines in Darwin because an Aborigine had assaulted him, a court heard today.

Warren Mathers will be sentenced in the Northern Territory Supreme Court next monthafter pleading guilty today to bashing four of seven itinerants assaulted on a singlenight in February.

Mathers was the youngest of the gang of five teenagers and the only one with a reasonfor the violence, the Darwin Children's Court heard.

"Mathers stated that he was angry and wanted to pay back for the harassment and assaultcommitted to him by an Aboriginal youth in recent times," prosecutor Sergeant David Peachsaid of his interview with police.

Defence lawyer Peter Elliott said the youth was 25-year-old Brian Casey, who is servinga three-month sentence for assaulting Mathers in January.

Casey had a long-running dispute with the Mathers family which owns the supermarketin suburban Tiwi.

The supermarket had been painted with racist graffiti including "white cunts" and "747".

Mr Elliott said 747 meant that for every seven blacks harmed by white Australians,revenge would be taken out on seven white Australians.

Mathers had vented his anger and frustration at the assault during a party at the homeof one of his co-accused, Colin Lawrence Hilliard, 17, on February 19.

Hilliard will appear for sentencing on Tuesday next week on charges that he assaultedsix men and women that night.

Two of the men sustained broken jaws and were hospitalised for days.

Mathers did not go along with the group when they mounted the first two attacks becausehe knew it was wrong, Mr Elliott said.

But he took part in the attacks on the last four victims, two of whom drank with Casey.

Mr Elliott could not explain why Mathers bashed another two who had no connection with Casey.

The last man was attacked as he slept under the eaves of a shopping plaza in suburbanCasuarina because the group's car ran out of petrol nearby.

"Had the car not run out of petrol, that unfortunate gentleman would have been sparedhis ordeal," Mr Elliott said.

"The fact that the victims are Aboriginal does not mean there is a racist basis to the attacks."

The president of Mathers' Aboriginal-dominated Darwin Buffalos Football Club, FrankAh Mat, testified that Mathers socialised with his Aboriginal teammates.

The Aboriginal wife of Mathers' grandfather, Doreen Nelson, said the boy had shownher no animosity because of her Aboriginality.

Magistrate Daynor Trigg declined to sentence Mathers today because only the SupremeCourt could pass a sentence of more than 12 months.

Juvenile defendants can be identified under NT law.

AAP rmg/jmd/sb

KEYWORD: RACIAL