A 14-year-old Chinese exchange student is set to stand trial in the NSW Supreme Court accused of murdering another Chinese student a year ago.
The accused, who can only be known as JY for legal reasons, is accused of murdering the 14-year-old near Newcastle in August 2025.
The teenager died from stab wounds.
At the time a spokesperson for the Council of Australian Student Exchange Organisations (CASEO) told the ABC in a statement the girls were not part of a student exchange program but were on a “study tour”.
JY has pleaded not guilty to murder.
On Monday in the Broadmeadow Children’s Court, Judge Stephan Herridge committed her to stand trial in the Supreme Court on a date to be fixed.
This would make the girl one of the youngest people to stand trial for murder in NSW.
Principle of doli incapax
In a court hearing in April, the prosecution asked the Children’s Court for access to JY’s psychiatric, education and custodial records.
It was in an attempt to rebut the presumption of doli incapax, which is a legal term presuming that children are incapable of committing a crime due to their lack of mental capacity.
The girl, now 14, objected to prosecutors accessing her records, arguing they were confidential and privileged.
The court rejected that defence.
After a lengthy hearing, access was granted in order to enable the prosecution to investigate the background and possible mental state of JY.
The matter is now listed for a call-over hearing in the Supreme Court in October.