State authorities have been told to pay a former student more than $1.7 million after he was beaten by 12 classmates in an “unprovoked, violent and lengthy” assault. 

Fairvale High School in western Sydney breached its duty of care by failing to monitor children near its site as they headed home on the day of the assault and leaving an administrative office unstaffed, according to a NSW Supreme Court judgment. It had also failed to carry out a proper risk assessment on the student who led the beating. 

The victim, referred to as T2, said that after the brutal attack, he suffered a decline in his mental state and worsening of underlying psychiatric conditions, which impaired his enjoyment of life and derailed his education and career trajectory. 

The then 14-year-old had been approached by a fellow student near a bus stop after school on October 16 2017 and told that a known bully, referred to as XY, “wanted to talk to him”. 

He headed to the nearby school office seeking help but found it locked and unstaffed. There were no teachers on “bus duty” monitoring the school surrounds. He texted his mother “advising that he was about to be bashed”, but her calls to alert the school went to a message bank. 

When the boy’s bus arrived, other children apparently blocked him from boarding and instead led him away to a park, where the attack began. 

“The footage was filmed on one of the student’s phones,” Associate Justice Joanne Harrison said in her judgment. 

“T2 was spear-tackled from behind. Once he was on the ground, several students proceeded to kick, punch and stomp on his head and various parts of his body ... T2 was in a vulnerable position, defenceless against his attackers.” 

The “very distressing” phone footage was later uploaded to Instagram. 

The judge said XY was “known as being an enforcer and someone who would enlist the assistance of other students to carry out attacks on lone students. At the time of the assault, XY had recently returned from a second suspension for violent conduct that year.” 

She found that a proper risk assessment of the boy was not performed before he was allowed to return to the school. 

The court heard the victim had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder at a young age and two medical experts “agree that the assault was likely to have seriously aggravated T2’s pre-existing psychological condition”. 

Among the state’s arguments were that its duty of care “neither extended beyond the confines of the school, nor lasted outside of school hours”. 

But the court rejected this, saying authorities should “provide supervision in and around the school for the safe passage of students for their journey to home from school”. 

The $1.75 million in damages owed by NSW includes payments for non-economic loss, future economic loss and future medical expenses. 

See the judgment here.