Teen taken to hospital after stabbing in Cranbourne
A GANG of about 20 teenagers set upon a 14-year-old boy, slashing him four times with a blade, in the latest bout of knife violence to strike Melbourne.
The group, whom witnesses say were mostly Sudanese or of African descent, had tried to gatecrash a nearby party 10 minutes before they set upon Ben Phillips in the frenzied group attack.
Witnesses said the gang was lying in wait for anyone that left the Cranbourne party before attacking Ben as he walked a girl home.
After a brief discussion, the gang set on him, landing a flurry of punches and then kicked him as he lay on the ground. The teenager was stabbed four times in the back during the brutal assault, with the blade puncturing both lungs.
As he stumbled a few steps along Clarendon St, he screamed, “I’m bleeding, I’m bleeding, I don’t want to die.”
On Sunday morning the Herald Sun uncovered steak knives at the Clarendon Park Primary School only metres from the scene of the attack.
Local detectives were examining the knives to see if they were related to the attack.
Ben was carried back to the party about 250m away, leaving a trail of blood.
Friends applied pressure on his wounds to stem the bleeding and kept him conscious until paramedics arrived.
Ben was flown to the Royal Children’s Hospital where doctors performed an emergency procedure to drain fluid and blood from his lungs.
His parents kept a bedside vigil as he lay in intensive care on Saturday night.
His health improved on Sunday afternoon and he was moved to a ward in a serious, but stable condition.
Ben’s father, Barry, said the gang was planning to ambush anyone that left the party. “They just started punching him and punching him then he fell down,’’ Mr Phillips said.
“He got up and again, punch, punch, punch, he fell down and rolled up into a ball and then they started kicking him. He got up and bolted.
“He took a few steps then started screaming to his friends.” Jacinta Weston, 16, said she had only met Ben that night when he offered to walk her home.
She said she turned to look for another friend when Ben was attacked by a large group of young men.
“He came running up to me with blood all over him,” she said.
“I was freaking out.”
Jessica Woeltjes, 18, who lives at the house where the party was held, said it had “a great environment” before the men came knocking.
Police had not made any arrests yesterday and are appealing for witnesses to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
