Teenager jailed for 'truly shocking' bashing and fatal crash

A teenager has been sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in jail after killing his friend in a crash three months after what a judge described as a "inhumane" bashing that left a man with lifelong disabilities. The court heard the assault victim was kicked and stomped on, causing a permanent brain injury. What's next? He must serve at least four-and-a-half years of the sentence before becoming eligible for parole. A violent teenager who brutally bashed a man and later killed his friend in a horrific crash has been sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in jail. Today, County Court judge Amanda Chambers said the teenager's actions were "truly shocking". Then aged 16, the teenager bashed 36-year-old Valentino Arop outside a Flemington housing tower on February 6, 2025. Judge Chambers said the pair had only crossed paths for the first time that night, with the teenager running behind Mr Arop and "king hitting" him in the back of the head. During the assault, the teenager kicked and stomped on Mr Arop as he lay on the ground. "It was cowardly and inhumane," Judge Chambers said. The victim was hospitalised for eight months and was left with serious, permanent brain injury and physical disabilities. He requires a walking frame and can no longer play and socialise with his children in the way he wants, the judge said. Three months after the violent bashing, the teenager was placed on probation by the Children's Court and freed into the community over unrelated motor vehicle thefts and aggravated burglary crimes. Nine days later, he got behind the wheel of a stolen SUV while drunk and crashed after running a red light at the corner of Dohertys Road and Derrimut Road in Tarneit. The teenager's friend, Kevin Olenga, was in the passenger seat and suffered fatal injuries. Kevin's family said the teen, who was one of eight siblings, was deeply missed. "I'm so fearful of accepting his loss … I feel so bad. I cry all night," his mother Bora Mireye said in a victim impact statement. Judge Chambers said the driver had suffered serious injuries in another crash two years earlier, acquiring a brain injury that left him suffering emotional difficulties, outbursts and substance abuse. The judge said it was concerning that experience did not deter him from driving dangerously again. "A life was lost and another irrevocably altered as a result of two separate incidents of offending," Judge Chambers said. "You will also have to live with the fact that you are responsible for the death of your friend." The teenager was granted a sentencing discount after entering early guilty pleas to offences including intentionally causing serious injury and culpable driving causing death. The judge also took into account the offender's young age and disadvantaged background He will have to serve a minimum of four-and-a-half years before being eligible for parole. With time already served, his sentence will expire in March 2034.