Teens stabbed at party say they were targeted for ‘being Aussies’
Two teenagers stabbed by gatecrashers at a friend's Christmas party on a Victorian property believe they were targeted for being Australian.
The pair was celebrating Christmas at a mate's farm with around 100 friends at Koo Wee Rup, when the gang of 15 strangers turned up, armed with knives.
Moments after being attacked in the wild party brawl by a stranger, the 18-year-old victims were left cowering in fear.
Joel Sarlo was stabbed twice in the frenzied fight, with one wound just missing his lung.
His friend Matt Dromell was stabbed once and was almost kidnapped.
“They pulled me off to the side and grabbed my throat put a knife to my neck and started walking me out trying to get into their car,” Mr Dromell said.
“[The attacker] tried to stab me twice in the stomach but missed.”
The young man said he managed to drop to the ground and crawl to the stable to hide until the gang left.
“I thought I was going to die. If it wasn’t for my mates that who were there thankfully, I probably would be dead
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Mr Sarlo was stabbed trying to save his friend.
“I seen him getting pushed around and starting to get punched so I run over to him quick and I pulled one of them off and I pushed him away,” he said.
“And then as soon as I did that, about six of them, they just jumped on me and in the midst of it all I got stabbed.”
The huge brawl happened on the dance floor. As the alleged attackers were throwing punches and stabbing the two friends, they could be heard above the music, yelling “Aussie scum”, witnesses have said.
A 17-year-old, believed to be an Iraqi national, was arrested trying to leave the property.
He has been charged and bailed, infuriating the pair’s mothers, who called the attack their “worst nightmare”.
“I haven’t slept since [the attack]. Every time I close my eyes, I think about ‘what if?’” Mr Sarlo's mum Kelly Anne Murphy said.
The 18-year-olds don’t know what provoked the wild brawl and want the alleged attacker behind bars.
“You can't go around pulling a knife at a party and stab someone and just get out on bail the next day, it’s a joke,” Mr Dromell said.
Ms Murphy called for “a full reform of the legal system”.
“Something has to change. It cannot keep going on like this. We're not safe anymore,” she told 7 News.
