A teacher within Victoria's youth justice system criticises the incredibly damaging treatment of men from African backgrounds, during a plea hearing for the killer of Melbourne student Laa Chol.
"The African boys were often blamed for things that happened," she told the court.
She said recalled one incident where the convicted man, along with all the other young African men, were put into lockdown. "They had been unable to determine who had been involved and so they left all the boys, not the whole unit, just the young African men locked in their rooms," she said.Supreme Court Justice Stephen Kaye said sentencing the man would be complex, but stressed the seriousness of his crime."It was absolutely senseless what he did. Cowardly. She was defenceless.
In victim impact statements read to the court, Ms Chol was described as a loving daughter who has helped to support her family financially. Ms Churchill read from a statement prepared by Ms Chol's mother, Ojwanga Abalo, who described the legal studies student as a caring daughter and sibling."Laa was like a tree I planted. I put everything into her, I watched her grow and now it's like someone has cut that tree down."
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