Aussie Teen Denies Murder At Gay Beat

A Sydney Australia teenager has denied murdering an autistic man at a public restroom commonly known as a gay beat. The teen, who was 16-years-old at the time of the murder cannot be named, but has pleaded not guilty to the stabbing death of Gerard Fleming, 35, in June of 2007 Narrabeen on Sydney’s northern beaches.

The NSW Supreme Court prosecutor, Margaret Cunneen, said the teenager told police the man had emerged from a cubicle wearing underpants, but with his trousers around his knees.

Ms. Cunneen told the jury Mr. Fleming had suffered from a mild form of autism called Asperger’s syndrome. She said the teenager also told police he had given Mr. Fleming a beer, which they had drunk inside the public toilet because it was raining. The teenager then said Mr. Fleming emerged from a toilet cubicle, approached him and joked, “I’m giving you a wedgie.” The teen claims the man then grabbed him “in a kind of bear hug” at which point the teen then stabbed him twice with a folding knife he was carrying in his pocket.

The trial is continuing before Justice David Kirby.