More teens arrested over alleged assault of 15yo boy
A 15-year-old boy was allegedly attacked by a group of teenagers at Stawell in early October. (ABC News: Patrick Rocca)
In short:
Five teenagers have been arrested after the alleged assault of a 15-year-old boy in Victoria's west this month.
The incident has renewed community calls for more CCTV in the town of Stawell.
What's next?
Four teenagers will appear in court at a later date, while a fifth is expected to be charged by police.
Two more teenagers have been arrested over an alleged group assault in the western Victorian town of Stawell earlier this month.
Police say a 15-year-old-boy was attacked by a group of teenagers near the intersection of Wakeham and Doye streets about 5:45pm on October 5.
They allegedly stole his shoes and clothing before running away.
The boy was taken to hospital but has since been released.
On Saturday, police said a 14-year-old boy had been charged with several offences, inlcuding recklessly causing injury, while a 16-year-old girl was also expected to be charged.
It follows the arrests of two 15-year-olds and a 14-year-old on Tuesday. They were charged with affray, robbery, recklessly causing injury, and theft.
They will appear in the children's court at a later date.
A spotlight on security
The incident comes as community pressure grows on the Northern Grampians Shire Council to install CCTV in police-identified crime hotspots at Stawell.
The alleged assault has renewed the conversation about public safety in Stawell. (ABC News: Sarah Mullins)
After the three initial arrests made earlier this week, Mayor Karen Hyslop said the council's policy had not changed "for now", but "priorities can be re-evaluated".
She said council had looked into "the financial cost and privacy concerns", and found CCTV installation would involve "allocating hundreds of thousands of dollars from the budget".
But Stawell resident Jessica Lees, who, alongside two other mothers, ran an online survey earlier this year to collect data in support of cameras being installed, was not happy with that response.
She said more than 300 people filled out the survey and had questioned why the council had not explored every option, including available state government grants for the cameras.
"If other councils across Victoria can find ways to fund CCTV, why can't we?" she asked.
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