Seven teenagers charged with murder after stabbing deaths of two boys in Melbourne

"The seven males, aged between 15 and 19, were arrested on Friday morning after raids on homes in Melbourne's north and west by homicide squad detectives. They were interviewed by police before charges were laid in the afternoon. A 19-year-old Thornhill man, a 16-year-old Sunbury boy, a 16-year-old Sydenham boy and a 15-year-old Hillside boy were charged with the murder of Dau. A 19-year-old Caroline Springs man, an 18-year-old Wollert man and a 16-year-old Sydenham boy were charged with the murder of Chol."

"Dau and Chol were walking home from a basketball game on 6 September when they were allegedly attacked on separate streets in Cobblebank, in the city's west, by masked assailants armed with machetes and long-edged weapons. Emergency services responded to calls shortly before 8pm on the night following reports that two children had been fatally injured. They were located on adjacent streets, after members of the public rushed to help. Both children died at the scene."

"The assistant commissioner of crime command, Martin O'Brien, on Friday said the pair's devastated families were grieving their loss and the things they would never see their children experience. The word senseless has been used so many times already in relation to the deaths of Dau Akueng and Chol Achiek, because the reality is that it doesn't make sense, he said in a statement. Two children walking home after playing sport, who should have had decades of their lives ahead of them."

Seven males aged between 15 and 19 were arrested after raids on homes in Melbourne's north and west and interviewed by homicide squad detectives before charges were laid. Four teenagers and three adults face murder charges over the deaths of 15-year-old Dau Akueng and 12-year-old Chol Achiek. The adults appeared in Melbourne magistrates court and were remanded in custody to reappear on 12 December; the teens were due in a children's court. The victims were allegedly attacked by masked assailants with machetes while walking home from a basketball game on 6 September and died at the scene. Families are grieving and officials described the killings as senseless.

Read at www.theguardian.com