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www.news.com.au A TEENAGE boy died after he was punched in the head during a voluntary "fight club" organised by students in a local park after school. Year 9 student Stephen Luu died in Liverpool Hospital three days after he was punched by a Year 7 boy whom police said was aged 12 or 13. The Daily Telegraph can reveal that the boys involved in the fight club made a pact to conceal what really happened, claiming the dead student had been hit on the head by a soccer ball. School serious incident reports obtained by The Daily Telegraph under Freedom of Information reveal the fight club was run by high school students in south-western Sydney. One fight, filmed on a student's mobile phone on September 25 last year, shows students removing their shirts before wrapping them around their fists and boxing. Footage seized by police shows the Year 7 student punching Luu to the ground. Luu complained of dizziness and was helped home by his younger brother and the Year 7 boy. But his condition worsened and about 5pm an ambulance was called and he was taken to hospital. The Vietnamese Australian, from Heckenberg, suffered from the congenital blood disorder Glanzmann's Thrombasthenia, in which the blood does not clot properly. He was operated on for a bleed to the brain but did not regain consciousness and died at 1pm on September 28. Sgt David Hatchwell of Green Valley police said investigations into the incident were still being made but no charges had been laid. "We are waiting to receive a report from a neuro-forensic pathologist and a pathologist's report," Sgt Hatchwell said. Police have needed an interpreter to interview the dead boy's parents, Chuc and Thuy Luu, because they do not speak English. Former Liberal candidate for Cabramatta Dai Le, who has visited the family, said yesterday the Luus were "devastated" by their loss. Department of Education and Training documents refer to the "death of student following fight". The fight - on the last school day before term holidays - was recorded on a mobile phone by Luu's brother. The Year 7 boy was "extremely distraught" and was undergoing counselling. Sgt Hatchwell said a date had not yet been set for a coroner's hearing. |
