Aus: Teen gets probation for assaulting Indians

An Australian teenager, who pleaded guilty at a children's court to a charge of  affray (assault in public) over a gang attack on two Indians in December 2008, has escaped conviction and was given a nine-month probation after he vowed to change his ways.

The 15-year-old boy, who was not identified, allegedly belonged to a gang that was believed to have been operating under the name of KMC -- an abbreviation for 'Kill More Curries' or, as the group had misspelt it, 'Cause More Chaos', media reports said. The court heard that the teenager, who pleaded guilty last week, was part of a group that attacked the two Indians at Oakleigh station on December 4, 2008.

The group taunted one of the victims before pushing him and later punched him in the face. The other victim, who had tried to intervene during the incident, sustained a broken jaw and was kicked repeatedly after falling to the ground. Local newspaper Moorabbin Glen Eira Leader said that youths based in and around Clayton South were involved with the gang whose members allegedly attacked the two Indians, who were also not identified.

Magistrate Luisa Bazzani warned the boy that he was "on the path to self-destruction." "It (the attack) is cowardly and pathetic," Bazzani said, adding "You will end up with a lifetime of jail." The boy escaped conviction and was given a nine-month probation order after he presented a letter to the Magistrate acknowledging the effect the case had had on his mother and vowing to change his ways.