Sarah Slater
Three men charged with the murder of an Irish teenager who died in Australia after he fell from an apartment balcony in an alleged armed robbery are to stand trial in Brisbane Supreme Court.
Cian English (19), originally from Carlow town, lived in the Brisbane suburb of Hawthorne. He suffered traumatic injuries when he fell from a fourth-floor balcony at the View Pacific resort in Surfers Paradise in the early hours of Saturday, May 23rd, 2020 during an alleged robbery.
He fell to his death when he was allegedly being robbed at knife point following an apartment party where it is alleged the three men were high on prescription drugs. Mr English attempted to escape, however, fell from the fourth floor balcony.
Lachlan Paul Soper-Lagas (21) Hayden Paul Kratzmann (21) and another person who was a juvenile at the time of the offending and cannot be named for legal reasons, have been committed by the Southport Magistrates Court to stand trial in the Queensland Supreme Court on charges including murder, torture and deprivation of liberty.
They have not been required to enter pleas to the charges.
Their committal hearings heard the group had allegedly engaged in the torture and deprivation of liberty of Mr English with the intention of robbing him to "teach him a lesson".
Magistrate Mark Howden heard the juvenile had allegedly "supported and intentionally encouraged" the other two men's assaults on Mr English the night he died.
Video footage
Police allege Mr English jumped from the balcony of the View Pacific Resort, where he fell about four floors to his death. Officers also claim that prior to his death, Mr English met up with another group, which included Mr Kratzmann and Mr Soper-Lagas, who were staying in the apartment above.
The committal hearing was told that Mr Kratzmann and Mr Soper-Lagas had allegedly broken into a Queensland Health building at Nerang on the night Mr English died and stolen drugs that were allegedly used in the murder.
The court heard the drugs stolen from Queensland Health were found at the unit where Mr English fell to his death.
The three men were also charged with the robbery, torture and deprivation of liberty of another person, stealing a belt, wallet and AirPods.
They will face the Supreme Court in Queensland, with a date yet to be set. Mr Soper-Lagas remains on bail.
Two female minors, whose names have not been released for legal reasons, are also charged with the Mr English's murder.
Police allege that the two girls filmed the beating, stabbing and fatal fall, subsequently posting videos of the events on social media.
The Irish teenager was living in Australia with his parents Siobhan and Vinny and older brother Dylan.
His ashes were laid to rest in St Mary’s cemetery, Leighlinbridge, Co Carlow several weeks after his death.
