'An exercise in being a coward': teen outnumbered in 'horrific' bus stop assault

An 18-year-old teamed up with a 14-year-old boy to attack a teenager waiting at a bus stop, in what a magistrate described as "an exercise in being a coward".

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William Edmond, now 19, was sentenced to three months' jail in the ACT Magistrates Court on Thursday, October 22, after pleading guilty to one count of assault occasioning bodily harm.

The sentence was backdated to account for time already spent in custody, making him eligible for release on November 23.

The 17-year-old victim was waiting for a bus in May 2025 when Edmond and the 14-year-old co-offender approached him and launched the assault.

The court heard Edmond punched the teenager in the head and arm, causing a significant cut to his forehead and substantial blood loss.

The prosecutor described the assault as an "unprovoked, somewhat premeditated attack" on the victim, who was known to the younger co-offender.

The ACT Magistrates Court, where William Edmond was sentenced. Picture by Keegan Carroll

"It's a horrific incident of violence that calls for deterrence and denunciation," she said.

Edmond's defence lawyer said the man had an intellectual disability and was intoxicated at the time of the offending.

"It's clear that alcohol was a feature of that offending," he said. "He fully accepts responsibility and expresses his remorse."

The lawyer said the agreed facts showed the two offenders' actions diverged after the initial assault.

The court heard the 14-year-old picked up a knife after the attack, ran towards the victim, and made a threat.

Edmond had "nothing to do" with that conduct and had intervened to prevent the boy from going further, the lawyer said.

The 14-year-old, who cannot be named due to his age, was handed a 25-day jail sentence and a three-month good behaviour order in the Children's Court for assault and making a threat to kill.

Magistrate Glenn Theakston ultimately found that Edmond's actions were serious enough to warrant a jail sentence.

"The offending is of concern," Mr Theakston said.

"It's essentially a couple of young men attacking another young man in circumstances where they outnumbered him and in circumstances where they were willing to engage in violence and the other person wasn't."

The magistrate said the assault "doesn't reflect well on either offender".

"It was essentially an exercise in being a coward - walking up and dominating the person and using a request for a phone as an excuse to engage in violence," he said.

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