Outpouring of grief and shock at schoolyard death

More than 3000 people have signed up to Elliott Fletcher's memorial page. Photo / Bay of Plenty Times

CANBERRA - The suspected murder of a 12-year-old Queensland boy by a 13-year-old schoolmate has thrown Australia into an agonising new search for answers.

Elliott Fletcher died in hospital on Monday after being stabbed in the chest at St Patrick's College, a Catholic day school in the affluent Brisbane waterfront suburb of Shorncliffe.

His alleged killer was arrested after being treated for a minor self-inflicted wound and was yesterday remanded in custody to Brisbane Children's Court on April 29, charged with murder.

The death has shocked Australia and traumatised the college community, which yesterday held an emotional memorial service, with more than 3000 people also signing up to a special page on Facebook.

But even the Facebook memorial caused further grief, attracting perverted ghouls who defaced the site with callous jokes, messages of racial hatred, links to pornographic sites and graphic images including child porn, bestiality and torture.

The "graffiti" was cleared from the site and police enlisted the help of the Federal Police and Interpol in tracing the people responsible.

But beyond the immediate grief, concern has focused on fears that violence and the use of weapons may be increasing in Australian schools.

There are no details yet of the cause of the fight that killed Elliott Fletcher, and State Premier Anna Bligh and Queensland Secondary Principals Association president Norm Fuller have expressed confidence in existing security measures.

But Bligh said safety arrangements would be reviewed at schools across the state.

This is the second stabbing at a Brisbane school in the past two weeks, and involves one of the youngest alleged killers in Australian history.

High Court records indicate that only one other 13-year-old has been charged with murder, although two others who were 14 when their charges were formalised may have been younger at the time the offence was committed.

The case may also point to a rise in youth violence, although New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research figures indicate that the use of knives, swords, scissors or screwdrivers in crimes committed by juveniles has remained fairly stable over the past five years.

During this period 23 juveniles using these weapons have been charged with murder in the state, 992 have been charged with assault, and 886 with robbery.

In its submission to a federal parliamentary inquiry into youth violence, the Australian Institute of Criminology said data on violent offending was not available for all states, but New South Wales figures indicated it was increasing.

Figures for the state showed that the rate of juvenile offenders proceeded against for violent offences had increased by more than 44 per cent since 2001, while rates for property crime fell.

The institute said a national survey of more than 45,000 young Australians had also shown that almost 23 per cent were worried by physical or sexual abuse and were afraid for their personal safety.

Almost 30 per cent also said they felt unsafe walking near their homes after dark.

Research by the Foundation for Young Australians further showed that young people were worried by the increasing use of weapons among their peers, and the emergence of violence as a sign of strength.

School staff told foundation researchers that they were concerned by the increasing numbers of school fights, the growing support for violent behaviour among peer groups, and the lack of education about violence prevention at schools.

Acting Detective inspector Tod Reid of the North Brisbane Child Protection Investigation Unit told the Courier-Mail after Elliott Fletcher's death:

"At this point we seem to be seeing more prevalence of younger children becoming involved in offences of violence all over the state, so yes, it is shocking but not unexpected."

Griffith University's violence research programme director Professor Paul Mazerolle told ABC radio that anecdotal evidence suggested schools were becoming more violent and that young people were concerned about knives.

He said Deakin University research had found similar levels of participation in violence and alcohol use at schools in Victoria and Washington state, in the United States.

"So the belief that places like America own the violence problem is a misnomer," he said.

"We have significant violence issues here in Australia."