Indigenous teen Cassius Turvey's murderers sentenced to life in prison
Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here Warning: This story contains the name and images of a deceased Indigenous person. A man who chased an Indigenous teenager into bushland and violently murdered him with a metal pole has been sentenced to life behind bars. Cassius Turvey, a Noongar Yamatji boy, died in hospital 10 days after he was deliberately struck to the head in Perth's eastern suburbs on October 13, 2022. Jack Steven James Brearley, 24, and Brodie Lee Palmer, 30, were convicted in May of murdering the 15-year-old after a 12-week trial. A note is seen in memory of Cassius Turvey on October 31, 2022 in Perth. (Getty) They were each sentenced on Friday to life imprisonment, with Brearley eligible for parole in October 2044 and Palmer in January 2041. Mitchell Colin Forth, 27, who was also on trial in the West Australian Supreme Court for Cassius's murder and found guilty of manslaughter, was sentenced to 12 years, eligible for parole in January 2033. Chief Justice Peter Quinlan said the killers had cut Cassius's life short in a horrendous and vengeful act of aggression, violence and brutality. "Cassius Turvey was robbed of his life and of his promise ... all because you killed him, Mr Brearley," he said. Brearley had a complete lack of remorse and had lied throughout the trial while giving evidence, falsely accusing Cassius of knifing him and attempting to blame an innocent man for the killing, Justice Quinlan said. "Mr Brearley, you were the person who killed Cassius Turvey in that fit of rage and brutality," he said. "While you did not intend to kill Cassius Turvey, your attack was persistent and sustained and only stopped by the arrival of Mr Palmer." Noongar teenager Cassius Turvey died after allegedly being beaten while walking home from school. (Supplied) Justice Quinlan said Palmer had failed to accept responsibility for his crimes and there were few mitigating factors to reduce his sentence. "You do not have the benefit of a plea of guilty ... and you do not have the benefit of good character," he said. Justice Quinlan said Forth was never the main offender in the shameful course of events but always there in the background. "You were just following along in the excitement of trying to be a tough guy," he said. "And you followed Mr Brearley all the way to a conviction for manslaughter." Brearley delivered the fatal blows on Cassius while "hunting for kids" because somebody had smashed his car windows. He chased Cassius into bushland and knocked the teen to the ground and hit him in the head with a metal pole, causing bleeding in his brain that led to his death. Palmer and Forth were at the scene and found to have a common purpose. For 24/7 crisis support run by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, contact 13YARN (13 92 76). Readers seeking support can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or beyond blue on 1300 22 4636. courts
crime
murder
jail
Perth
Western Australia CONTACT US
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Age
4 hours ago
- The Age
100,000 people have accessed this payment. Now it's being made permanent
More than 100,000 people have accessed up to $5000 each in financial help to leave violent relationships over the past four years as the program becomes permanent from July. The two-year Escaping Violence Payment trial – which was introduced in October 2021 under the Coalition – was extended by the Labor government and will be made permanent under the new Leaving Violence Program. From next week, victim-survivors who are planning to leave, or have recently left, a violent intimate partner relationship will be eligible to receive up to $5000 in financial support. As many as one in four women in Australia and one in 14 men experience violence by an intimate partner from the age of 15. A report this month by the Australian Longitudinal Study on Male Health revealed about one in three men had used a form of intimate partner violence as an adult. An evaluation of the Escaping Violence Payment trial in 2023 found nine out of 10 people who received the payment were women and more than a quarter were Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. The average amount accessed was $4224 – including a cap of $1500 in cash and the rest in goods, services and support such as counselling and legal services. Economic insecurity is a major barrier for many people looking to leave a violent partner, especially women. While women's workforce participation in Australia has grown over the years, the proportion of women employed is about six in 10 compared with nearly seven in 10 men, the Australian Bureau of Statistics says. Women are also more likely to work part-time and earn less, often putting them in a more vulnerable position. An ABS survey in 2021-22 of 1.5 million women who had experienced violence by a previous partner showed roughly two in five had separated. Of these, one in five returned to their partners because of a lack of financial resources. Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek said the Leaving Violence Program would make it easier for women to leave violent relationships safely, and to provide for their family.
SBS Australia
a day ago
- SBS Australia
Morning News Bulletin 28 June 2025
Listen to Australian and world news, and follow trending topics with SBS News Podcasts . TRANSCRIPT Two men who murdered Indigenous teenager Cassius Turvey receive a life sentence The US brokers a peace deal between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo Australian teenager Rocco Zikarsky one of four Australians selected in the NBA draft — Two men have been sentenced to life in prison over the killing of Aboriginal schoolboy Cassius Turvey in Western Australia's Supreme Court. The judge said the 15-year-old boy was robbed of his life in a brutal act which can never be made right. Jack Brearley and Brodie Palmer will need to serve at least 22 and 18 years respectively before they're eligible for parole. Cassius' mother Michelle spoke outside court after the sentencing. "The first thing that came to mind when Jack Brearley was sentenced to life was how he said my son had learnt his lesson after he had bashed him in the bush ... Well, he learnt a life lesson now." --- The US Supreme Court has issued a ruling that curbs the ability of lone judges to block the powers of President Donald Trump nationwide. In a 6-3 ruling stemming from the bid to end birthright citizenship in the US, the court says nationwide injunctions by individual district court judges likely exceed their authority. Critics say the decision will embolden Mr Trump's aggressive use of executive orders to further his agenda. Donald Trump, however rejects concerns about the concentration of power in the White House. He says the ruling is a giant win. "So thanks to this decision, we can now promptly file to proceed with these numerous policies, those that have been wrongly enjoined in a nationwide basis, including birthright citizenship, ending sanctuary city funding, suspending refugee resettlement, freezing unnecessary funding, stopping federal taxpayers from paying for transgender surgeries and numerous other priorities of the American people." The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda have signed a peace deal facilitated by the US to help end decades of deadly fighting in the region. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio took part in the signing ceremony in Washington, along with the foreign ministers of the two African nations. The conflict has been described by the UN as "one of the most protracted, complex and serious humanitarian crises on Earth". With roots in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, it has displaced seven million people in the Congo, and escalated earlier this year with M23 rebels seizing major cities in the eastern part of the DRC. DRC Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner says the deal offers a rare chance to turn things around with real change on the ground. "With this peace agreement, we open a new chapter, one that calls not only for commitment, but for the courage to see it through. By signing this agreement, we reaffirm a simple truth. Peace is a choice, but also responsibility. To respect international law. To uphold human rights and to protect the sovereignty of states." A senior New South Wales Labor staffer has told an that inquiry Premier Chris Minns characterised the Dural Caravan plot as terrorism during a press conference because of a briefing provided by police. The Premier's Chief of Staff James Cullen is among five government political advisers appearing before the inquiry that is examining what the state government staffers knew about an apparent terrorist plot, which investigators later revealed to be a hoax. The inquiry is examining what the government knew about the caravan plot and when, amid concerns parliament may have been misled before passing controversial hate speech laws. Mr Cullen told the hearing the premier described the event as a terrorist attack because it was the language used by police in a briefing, despite police also alerting the public there were 'alternative lines' of inquiry. "Potential mass casualty event was not a term thrown around lightly at all. That was a very serious thing that was introduced by police in those briefings. I think that there has been a bit of a squashing here after the fact. The potential for that caravan with that explosives and so ignited could have been devastating and that had to be treated seriously." Australian teenager Rocco Zikarsky will start his NBA career at Minnesota, after being recruited with pick No.45 in the draft. Rising talent Zikarsky, who is 2.2 metres tall, was one of four players from the NBL's Next Star program to declare for the draft. The 18-year-old from the Sunshine Coast was overlooked on the first night of the event at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. But Zikarsky was snapped up with the 15th pick of the second round.
ABC News
a day ago
- ABC News
How slain teenager Cassius Turvey's mother Mechelle used courage and restraint to pave a way for justice
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. The scene of Mechelle Turvey hugging the lead detective of her son's murder case after two killers were sentenced to life imprisonment is a picture of the justice system and law enforcement at work. But perhaps closer to the truth, is that it's a result of one mother's courage to tread the path of justice, and also change Western Australia's police force for good. Cassius Turvey's death shook the nation. The 15-year-old boy was savagely beaten with a metal pole while walking with friends after school. Tensions swirled. An insidious fear crept into the community. The public called for justice. Thousands rallied across the country. But through all of the noise, and the pain, Mechelle Turvey stayed composed. Grief-stricken, no doubt, but composed. The community was asking questions about whether the attack was racially motivated, or to frame it another way, whether Aboriginal children could safely walk the streets as Cassius did. Decades of pain bubbled to the surface from Australia's colonial past as the First Nations community saw yet another one of their children die. The prime minister decried the "racially motivated" attack. "We are a better country than that," Anthony Albanese said. But through it all, Mechelle Turvey called for calm and urged the community not to use Cassius's death to push their own agenda. Through a cloud of grief and anger she could still see the way forward. The court did not prosecute whether racism was a motivating factor behind the expedition of misguided vigilantism which ultimately led to Cassius's death, but Chief Justice Peter Quinlan was clear the attackers racially vilified the Aboriginal children they were hunting. "It's no surprise … that the kids think they were being targeted because they were Aboriginal, and the attack would create justifiable fear for them and for the broader community that this was a racially motivated attack," Justice Quinlan said in his sentencing remarks. At the time of the attack, tensions between police and the community were at boiling point amid the #BlackLivesMatter movement sparked in the United States. Mechelle Turvey knew. She knew the attackers had been spraying racial slurs at her son and his friends. She knew the men who attacked her little boy — Jack Brearley, Brodie Palmer and Mitchell Forth — were guilty. She knew her community was grieving and in pain. But, she stayed composed because she knew the path forward was by trudging through the system. It's easy to cry and yell in anger after your son dies. And no-one would blame anyone for doing so. What's hard is controlling the unimaginable grief of losing your son for almost three years — so as to not jeopardise a trial — while the court and a jury methodically dug for the truth. Now we know the truth. Brearley is a murderer who showed no restraint when he hunted and senselessly beat an innocent boy with a metal pole. The chief justice described him as a "comical" liar who tried not only to frame an innocent man of murdering Cassius, but tried to frame Cassius as a violent attacker who deserved to be beaten. All lies. Palmer — another murderer — showed a "flicker of decency" when he interrupted Brearley's fit of rage, but as Justice Quinlan put it, "restraint in the context of a murder of a child does not weigh heavily". In the wake of her son's death, Mechelle Turvey knew perhaps more than anyone what had actually happened. But her restraint paved the way for justice to run its course. Her restraint paved the way for police officers to learn how to properly manage the needs of Aboriginal victims of crime. Mechelle Turvey now helps the WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch — who she told to "get effed" when they first met — by running a program for officers which helps to "stamp out RoboCop attitudes". The scene of Mechelle Turvey hugging Detective Senior Sergeant Stephen Cleal is a picture of the ideal: when law enforcement and the justice system help the community. But perhaps closer to the truth is that the scene is a beacon of hope that individuals — like Mechelle Turvey — can make change.
