Cassius Turvey murder trial prosecutor labels accused killer Jack Brearley a liar

Australia Broadcast Center

22-04-2025

WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains an image of a person who has died, used with the permission of their family.
A man accused of murdering Cassius Turvey was a "liar" who had no justification in striking the teenager with a trolley pole, a prosecutor has told the jury which will decide his fate.
Jack Brearley is one of four people accused of murdering the 15-year-old Indigenous boy, who suffered a head injury after being beaten in October 2022 and died 10 days later.
Prosecutor Ben Stanwix has been giving closing statements in the long-running WA Supreme Court trial, during which Mr Brearley has admitted punching the schoolboy but claimed he acted in self-defence after the teenager stabbed him with a knife.
Jack Brearley arrives home on the day he's alleged to have fatally assaulted Cassius Turvey.
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Supplied: Supreme Court of WA
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Mr Stanwix said that was not true, but even if Cassius Turvey did cut Mr Brearley with a knife, "good on him", because he was rightfully defending himself.
Mr Brearley and his co-accused Brodie Palmer, Aleesha Gilmore and Mitchell Forth have all pleaded not guilty to murder.
Brearley 'pleased with himself'
Several witnesses have testified they saw someone matching Mr Brearley's description attacking Cassius in bushland in Middle Swan.
Earlier, Mr Brearley denied using a pole to bash the teenager.
Shopping trolleys without handles were found in an alley next to Jack Brearley's home after the incident.
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Supplied: Supreme Court of WA
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But Mr Stanwix highlighted a phone call after the incident, during which Mr Brearley allegedly admitted "smacking" Cassius with a pole, describing it as "very powerful" evidence.
"He was laying in the field and I was just smacking him with a trolley pole so hard, he learnt his lesson," the voice in the phone call said.
Photo shows
A young boy wearing a basketball singlet smiles for the camera.
The WA Supreme Court hears testimony from the teenager at the centre of a "love triangle" that sparked a series of events ending in the alleged murder of Perth schoolboy Cassius Turvey.
Mr Stanwix said these were not the statements of a man who was defending himself, but the "words of a man who deliberately beat up a kid and was pleased with himself" and thought it was "pretty funny".
He told the jury Cassius never had a knife, and that Mr Brearley had been cut by another boy at the scene.
The 15-year-old would've been "terrified" after a "pole-wielding maniac just belted one of his mates up the road", he said.
The "mate" Mr Stanwix was referring to was a teenage boy on crutches, who witnesses said was assaulted minutes before Cassius was hit.
Focus on evidence, jury urged
The prosecutor said that "if he did use the knife", it would've been a "reasonable response" from Cassius, who'd been chased some 200 metres away from the earlier confrontation.
Prosecutor Ben Stanwix appealed to the jury to look at the "combined force of the evidence".
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ABC News: David Weber
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"He'd already run away," Mr Stanwix said, and "he was still being pursued by an unknown adult with a metal pole".
He said within hours of the incident, Mr Brearley had his hair cut to change his appearance and had "tried to frame an innocent man".
Photo shows
A young man wearing a baseball cap looks down at his phone
One of the four people accused of murdering Perth schoolboy Cassius Turvey takes the stand for the first time to give evidence at his trial in the WA Supreme Court.
Mr Stanwix called on the jury to focus on the "combined force of the evidence" rather than trying to answer every question raised during the trial.
'Stupid boofheads'
He said the accused had for the most part defended themselves by "pointing the finger" at someone else, but the case was "not just a one-man show".
It was "collective stupidity" involving "boofheads" who were "egging" each other on.
Mr Stanwix said they had a "common intention" to find, threaten or attack school-aged children.
Cassius Turvey suffered severe head injuries in the attack and died 10 days later.
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ABC News
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The prosecutor said such a group could provide "safety in numbers" and a "warm, comfortable environment" for "really dumb ideas".
In such an environment, getting metal poles to target kids "can seem like genius".
Mr Stanwix's closing submissions are continuing before Chief Justice Peter Quinlan.
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