schoolgirls who bashed a disabled boy and forced him to eat faeces laughed and posed for cameras as they left court after escaping a custodial sentence today.
The two girls, who cannot be identified, were 12 years old when they helped attack the 15-year-old boy who has muscular dystrophy on October 3 last year.
Two males - one who was aged 17 at the time and another who was just 15 - also appeared in court today over the same incident.
Few details of the attack were read out in the Brisbane District Court, but it was revealed the four assaulted the teenager at a derelict house at Mitchelton in Brisbane's north.
During the original hearing in the Brisbane Children's Court on October 7 last year, the court was told the girls threw rocks at the boy as he tried to escape.
The court was told the 17-year-old youth forced the terrified boy to eat faeces while the girls threatened him with a metal pole.
The children's court was then told the two male youths viciously punched and kicked the teenager.
The two girls both pleaded guilty today to two counts of common assault.
The boys both pleaded guilty to two counts of assault occasioning bodily harm, as well as common assault charges.
All four walked free today, after Judge Milton Griffin SC ruled that non-custodial sentences were appropriate given their age and lack of prior criminal convictions.
Judge Griffin said, however, that their actions were "cowardice in the extreme".
The two girls laughed and waved to news cameras as they left the court premises.
They were each released on a 12-month probation order.
The two boys each received a two-year probation order, and were ordered to perform 120 hours of community service.
No convictions were recorded.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22848410-662,00.html