Chinese student tour group traumatised by girl’s stabbing death in Newcastle

Police at the scene of a teenage stabbing, at Euston Close, Edgeworth. Photo / Justin Lloyd

In Australia, members of a Chinese study tour were too traumatised to attend a candlelit vigil for a young girl allegedly stabbed to death by a companion in suburban Newcastle, New South Wales.

Police have charged a 13-year-old with murder after another girl, 14, was found with a single stab wound at the home they were being hosted at while on the tour.

A children’s court heard how the 13-year-old’s mental health conditions may have led to her being “disassociated and psychotic” at the time.

Both girls were part of a group of 15 Chinese students on the three-week study tour associated with the Newcastle Waldorf School in Glendale.

The Daily Mail reports many of the students have not returned to class since the alleged murder on Tuesday last week.

“There are around 15 of them, across a few year groups, but none of them came back to school again,” a classmate said.

“Some had made good friends here, but I don’t think we will see them again before they leave on Saturday.”

The two girls had been staying with local couple Steve Maloney and Tracey Taylor at their Euston Close home.

Neighbours reported the couple were “good people”, and police Superintendent Tracy Chapman said they had been working closely with investigators.

“No doubt this is a shock and a significant event in their lives as well,” she said.

“All parties had retired to their rooms for the evening when one of the hosts heard a commotion of some sort, and when she went to investigate, she located the 14-year-old.”

A student told the Mail that most of the kids in the Chinese study tour met for the first time at the airport on the way to Australia.

“But they had ten hours together before arriving in Australia and saw each other every day, so the news was really shocking to all of them,” they said.

In a statement, the school’s co-principals Peter Muddle and Tracey Ashton said they were “deeply shocked and saddened by the tragic incident involving two visiting Chinese students who have been in Australia since last week as part of a tour group”.

“Our priority has been to ensure care and professional support is in place for our school community, as well as for the visiting students and their carers who find themselves dealing with grief far away from their families,” they said.

The tour, run by a Beijing-based company, is the second held this year, and was previously held in April.

The group was due to move on to other locations around Australia including the Great Ocean Rd after spending two weeks in Newcastle.

“They arrived in Australia eight days ago and were expected to depart Australia on the 16th of August,” Chapman said last week.

“NSW Police continue to work with the programme facilitators to ensure that all of the appropriate processes and notifications are being undertaken.”

The 13-year-old girl’s case will return to court in October.