A GROUP of teenagers were looking to steal a car when they twice forced their way into a home at Merewether in the early hours of Tuesday morning before a 14-year-old boy allegedly stabbed 49-year-old Daniel Lowe six times in the abdomen and legs, a children's court has heard.
Mr Lowe - who had come into the house from the back shed to protect his elderly mother - suffered four stab wounds to the stomach and on Wednesday was in an induced coma awaiting surgery to repair lacerations to his liver and lungs.
His 75-year-old mother Nadine was also stabbed, police said, but suffered only minor injuries.
Meanwhile, while Mr Lowe was fighting for his life, five of the six teenagers charged over the home invasion were appearing in Broadmeadow Children's Court.
The teenagers - aged between 13 and 15 - are predominantly from the Raymond Terrace area, have issues with drugs and alcohol, have not been attending school and, in at least two cases, were on bail for other offences and subject to a curfew to keep them at home overnight.
Two of the teenagers - the 14-year-old boy accused of stabbing Mr Lowe and a 13-year-old boy who prosecutors said twice went into the house with him - were refused bail over their roles in the home invasion, while the other three teens were granted conditional bail by Magistrate Andrew Eckhold.
Police prosecutor Wally Ball said the group are accused of twice breaking into the house in Coane Street about 3am on Tuesday.
"The first time they were disturbed by a lady in the house, who calls for her son," Sergeant Ball said in opposing bail for one of the teenagers. "They leave the house, there is a meeting and the boys go back in. "When they go back in that is when they are confronted by [Mr Lowe] who is stabbed six times."
The 14-year-old boy accused of stabbing Mr Lowe was charged with attempted murder, specially aggravated break and enter and reckless wounding in company.
The boy, who cannot be identified, did not appear in court or apply for bail on Wednesday and it was refused until November 20.
The 13-year-old boy was on bail and subject to a curfew after being charged with police pursuit and stealing cars over the last few months.
Sergeant Ball said the boy had breached his bail six times since July and there was no condition that could mitigate the risk he posed to the community.
Despite there being an issue of Doli Incapax, which means "incapable of wrong" and relates to the age of criminal responsibility in Australia, Mr Eckhold agreed and refused the boy bail until November.
A 14-year-old boy accused of breaking into the house with the others was granted bail because he had no prior criminal record, strong community ties and a mental health impairment.
As well as the three boys, three girls were charged over the home invasion and the allegation against one girl, aged 15, was that she helped dispose of the knife and a shirt belonging to the boy accused of the stabbing.
"She is prepared to engage in behaviour that seeks to distribute evidence in different places," Sergeant Ball said. "No remorse, no care for the person who has been stabbed, she is looking to try to conceal the offence."
Another girl, 15, was on bail for an alleged assault and subject to a curfew but instead was "not only breaching that curfew but involved in a very serious offence", the court heard.
The third girl, aged 14, will appear in court next month after she was charged with possessing stolen goods.
The home invasion and stabbing has rocked the beach side community of Merewether and came in the context of a spate of break-ins around that area.
Mr Eckhold said it had been his experience as the children's court magistrate that teenagers had been breaking into homes in the area to steal expensive cars and then engaging, often deliberately, in police pursuits, a pattern he said was "deeply concerning".
Mr Lowe, a surfing champion and life member of the Merewether Surfboard Club, was in an induced coma on Wednesday, the court heard.
The club on Wednesday released a statement confirming his involvement and wishing Mr Lowe and his mother a speedy recovery.
