In short:
More charges have been laid against three teenage girls allegedly involved in a street brawl in which a woman was stabbed and later died.
The matters of four girls who have been charged over the incident were mentioned in Port Kembla Children’s Court on Tuesday.
What’s next?
Three girls will appear in court again later this month, where prosecutors are expected to ask that bail be revoked for two of them.
Police have laid additional charges of murder against three teenage girls allegedly involved in a street brawl in which mother-of-two Kristie McBride was fatally stabbed.
Warning: This story contains details some readers may find distressing.
Ms McBride, 39, was stabbed during a clash between two groups of teenage girls in the Wollongong suburb of Warrawong on November 22.
A 15-year-old girl was charged with murder after Ms McBride died of her injuries.
Police charged six teenage girls in total, aged 13 to 17, over the brawl as well as the sister of the deceased, Carly McBride, then 37.
Further charges of murder were laid against three girls who were friends of the first murder-accused.
The four girls’ matters were mentioned in Port Kembla Children’s Court on Tuesday, where the additional charges were confirmed.
The three girls will appear in court again later this month where prosecutors are expected to apply to revoke two of the teenagers’ bail.
Fight organised on Instagram
In a separate hearing on Tuesday, two teenage girls also faced Port Kembla court over the brawl.
One girl who was 17 at the time of the fight pleaded guilty to affray, while another pleaded guilty to being armed with an instrument to commit indictable offence.
The agreed facts were tendered to court following the guilty pleas.
The facts revealed that the evening before the brawl, a group chat was created on Instagram to organise a fight between two groups of teenage girls.
The fight would pit the group of four teenage girls now charged with murder, against another group which included two 17-year-old girls who are also currently before the court.
One of the 15-year-old girls from the first group suggested she would “flog them all” because they “talked shit about her and her sister”, the documents alleged.
The 17-year-old replied, “You can (sic) bring girls to my house [expletive] I’ll knock yous all.”
The facts stated that during the group chat, the 15-year-old first charged with murder made a total of 11 violent threats towards the 17-year-old’s younger sister.
She allegedly told the girl “I’ll gut you like a fish” and “not before I cut you open”.
The girls arranged to meet at 2pm on November 22.
The agreed facts stated that on the morning of the fight, three of the teenage girls attended a Wollongong supermarket and “stole three knives”.
It is alleged both groups of girls continued to make violent threats towards each other throughout the day.
Carly McBride became aware of the threats in the group chat and asked her sister to come over “so she felt safer”.
When the four teenage girls arrived accompanied by other young people, one of the teenagers at a Warrawong home armed herself with a piece of timber, while Carly McBride wielded a metal baseball bat.
Brawl caught on camera
The ensuing brawl was captured on two mobile phones.
Carly McBride allegedly struck one of the teenagers with a baseball bat before her sister approached another girl.
The 15-year-old girl allegedly “swung the knife at Kristie McBride’s head, causing a 6 centimetre laceration to the left parietal scalp and 2 centimetre laceration to the left forehead”, the facts stated.
The 39-year-old mother was then allegedly stabbed in the stomach twice.
The agreed facts stated that as she started to walk away from the site, she said, “That little c*** stabbed me.”
Residents of the street and members of the public, including young children, were close to the fight when it happened.
Carly Mcbride allegedly chased the teenagers armed with a bat and one of the 17-year-olds flagged down a police car.
The facts claimed the 15-year-old girl gave her knife to one of her friends, who allegedly disposed of the knife less than a kilometre away from the scene of the brawl.
Police found the bloody knife soon afterwards.
Police arrested three of the teenagers at the scene, but the 15-year-old who police allege stabbed Ms McBride was not arrested.
The court heard she later responded to the Instagram chat, “Is ya girl dead?”
“Looks like a stab wound is pretty deep aye, might wanna send her to the hospital.”
Ms McBride was taken to Wollongong Hospital where she was placed in an induced coma.
She underwent extensive surgeries for the injuries but died three days after the brawl.
As a result of the stabbing, she lost a kidney, spleen and part of her bowel.
Teenager sentenced for ‘minor role’
A now-18-year-old girl was emotional in court on Tuesday as she was sentenced for one count of affray by Magistrate David Williams.
Magistrate Williams said while there was “no doubt” she participated in the brawl, she played a “relatively minor role”.
However, he told the court the accused did engage in “violent acts” and only stopped when she saw one of her opponents was armed with a knife.
“[Her death] has had a profound effect on [the accused], as it has had a profound effect on all those involved,” Magistrate Williams said.
“It is a terribly tragic incident and all people involved bear responsibility of what happened.”
She was sentenced to a 12-month good behaviour bond.
Her co-accused will be sentenced at a later date.
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