An 18-year-old has been charged with murder following the fatal stabbing of a 24-year-old man by a machete-wielding group in Melbourne's south-east. The incident occurred near the Marriott Waters shopping centre in Lyndhurst on the night of 14 March.
Police allege the victim, Timothy Leek from Clyde, was ambushed by up to 10 men, some carrying machetes, in a car park. Leek was the fourth person killed in a machete-related murder in Victoria in the past six months.
Victoria Police arrested the 18-year-old and a 17-year-old boy in Doveton on Friday. The 18-year-old has been charged with murder and is due to face Melbourne Magistrates Court on Saturday. The 17-year-old was released pending further inquiries.
The Victorian government has passed legislation to ban the sale and possession of machetes from 1 September in response to their rising use in violent crimes. The state opposition has called for an immediate ban, with leader Brad Battin stating, 'We need to make sure that we don't see the murder that we saw on Friday night again with machetes on our streets.'
