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‘Brilliant’ and ‘talented’ student suffered ‘life-altering’ injuries after he was abducted on his way home from school and attacked by a gang of knife-wielding thugs who pushed him out of their moving car.
Year 9 student Benjamin, 14, was picked up in a dark gray Volkswagen Tiguan moments after passing through the gates of Glen Eira College in Glen Huntly, Melbourne’s southeast, on Monday afternoon.
Inside the vehicle, he was robbed of his mobile phone and other personal effects and assaulted before being ejected from the moving vehicle several hundred meters away.
Benjamin remains hospitalized in a serious but stable condition, and police said at least two other students – aged 14 and 16 – from the same school have come forward to report they were targeted in similar attacks.
“We have had other victims who have come forward,” Victoria Police Inspector Scott Dwyer told 3AW on Wednesday.
“There were silent victims, they suffered like that other boy, maybe not as much as he did, but they didn’t report it to their parents or the police.”
Glen Eira College Year 9 student Benjamin (pictured) remains in serious but stable condition after being abducted by thugs while walking home from school
Inspector Dwyer said Benjamin suffered “life-changing” injuries and severe mental trauma.
Police said the investigation has now widened to determine whether the attack was linked to a similar incident just ten minutes after Benjamin was abducted.
In the incident, four teenagers were robbed by two machete-wielding offenders on Kambrook Road near Caulfield at around 3.25pm on Monday.
Alarmingly, five other schools in east Melbourne have reported pupils being targeted by thieves in similar incidents in the past month – although police believe they have no connection with Monday’s incidents.
Several Xavier College students were targeted last week, while a student at Scott’s College was robbed by three men on August 7, 9News reports.
Just three days before the attack on Benjamin, an Elwood College student was approached by a woman in an SUV who attempted to take his cellphone, according to the Herald Sun.
Similar reports have also come from students at Carey Grammar, Sacred Heart and St Bede’s College.
Police have now stepped up patrols across the region, with Inspector Dwyer calling the attacks “sickening”.
The horrific attack took place on Neerim Road, outside Glen Eira College (pictured), and two other students at the school said they were targeted in similar incidents
Schools are also urging children to keep their cellphones and headphones out of sight and to walk in groups to stay safe when leaving school.
“It’s a confrontation and the problem is that we live in a safe city and when incidents like this are reported it’s shocking but there will be a response,” Inspector Dwyer said.
“It’s a top priority for us.”
Speaking to reporters outside the hospital, Benjamin’s devastated aunt said her nephew did his best to fend off his attackers and suffered horrific injuries.
“It’s infuriating to feel, to know that they did this to a mere child,” she told Channel 10 on Tuesday.
“They need to be arrested and these people need to be punished appropriately.”
“Not a slap on the wrist. They must go to jail.
Pictured: Emergency services at the scene after Benjamin was found seriously injured on Monday
A teacher who taught Benjamin for two years said the random attack shook the school community.
“He is a talented, well-mannered and brilliant young man. To think this could happen in our school community is truly shocking,” the teacher told the Herald Sun.
“He comes from a very good family and I am thinking of them during this time. He is really lucky to be alive.
“I hope those responsible will be caught soon, this should never have happened.”
Police are still trying to find Benjamin’s attackers, who are believed to be Caucasian in appearance.
The terrifying attack took place in front of dozens of horrified students leaving school for the day.
A student saw the victim lying on the ground and coughing up blood after falling from the vehicle at the intersection of Neerim and Grange roads.
Benjamin was initially rushed to hospital, struggling to survive with serious injuries before his condition deteriorated the following day.
Police are pictured cordoning off the road on Monday as they investigate the attack, which is being treated as a random kidnapping and theft.
Acting Senior Detective Sergeant Lisa Watson said Benjamin was just an “innocent victim on her way home from school.”
“My detectives are working around the clock to investigate the people involved, the vehicle involved and any links to other events that took place earlier in the afternoon,” she said.
“As a parent, it absolutely sickens me to think that my boy could walk home from school and be randomly confronted by people with knives.
“It is a heinous attack. This is wrong and we will do everything in our power to bring these offenders to justice as quickly as possible.
She said police found a burnt-out Volkswagen in the eastern suburb of Dandenong around midnight the same day, and were being tested to determine if it was the same car used in the attack. .
Anyone who witnessed either incident, has CCTV or dashcam footage or any other information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers.