Cassius Turvey murder trial: Witness claims Jack Brearley hit him in face with pole before attack on teen

One of Cassius Turvey’s friends has recalled the moment he claims he was hit in the nose with a metal pole by one of the men charged with murdering his mate. The teenager, who was just 13 at the time, was one of 19 teenagers who had travelled to an oval in Middle Swan on October 13, 2022 to watch a fight that had been organised on social media. WA’s Supreme Court was told the teen had broken his Achilles, was wearing a moonboot and needed crutches to get around at the time of the alleged attack. In his evidence, the teenager told the court he had met the man — Jack Brearley — a couple of times before at Cody Gilmore’s house, who he was once friends with. Mr Brearley, his girlfriend Aleesha Gilmore, Brodie Palmer and Mitchell Forth are all on trial accused of murdering Cassius who died ten days after he was attacked. While all four have been charged with killing the 15-year-old, prosecutors allege Mr Brearley hit the Indigenous teen with a metal shopping trolley pole. But Mr Brearley claims it was Mr Palmer who delivered the fatal blow. The teen testified that after they arrived at the oval a black car drove past with those inside yelling at them before it pulled up right in front of them. He said two men got out — one in a tradie shirt and another skinny guy who he later identified as Jack, Ms Gilmore’s boyfriend — armed with metal poles. “At one point the tradie guy walked up and said something but I can’t remember,” he said. “The skinny one started acting aggressive.” The teenager said the skinny guy mentioned something about windows then hit him in the nose with a metal pole. The trial has previously been told that the day before the attack, Mr Brearley’s car windows had been smashed, with the four accused intent on finding those responsible. “I stumbled back a little bit, dropped my crutches and my hat fell off,” the teenager said when asked what happened after Mr Brearley allegedly hit him. “I was still on my feet. I can’t remember fully. “He took my crutches and my hat. He put them in the car. My nose was hurting for like a week.” Pictures of the teen’s injuries were then displayed in court showing he had a black eye and very swollen nose. When asked what he did after he was hit in the face, the witness told the court he started walking to the TAFE where he met up with some of the other youths who had ran off when the men had jumped out of the car. That is when he said he saw Cassius lying on the floor injured. When asked by Mr Brearley’s lawyer if he was certain it was Mr Brearley that hit him with the pole, the teen said he was. Earlier, another witness told the trial that she saw Cassius crying on his own outside the TAFE as he walked towards friends immediately after he had been hit. She said when she got closer, she could see he was bleeding and that his “ear was like in half”. “I seen Cassius crying,” she said. “He was on his own. He was walking towards everyone. “He kept saying he was fine.” And while she never saw what happened to Cassius, she told the trial she remembered seeing two men jump out of the car with metal poles describing one as the “bigger” “tall” man and the other as the “skinny man” with a mullet wearing a fluro shirt. However, her friend testified on Monday that she saw a skinny man in a light grey t-shirt with a pole jump out of the car. The trial continues.