Teen on bail charged after homeless man stabbed in Bendigo laneway attack
BENDIGO, Victoria: A 16-year-old boy has been charged after a homeless man was allegedly set upon and stabbed in central Bendigo, in an attack that has cut through the usual noise about youth crime because of who was hurt and where it happened.
Police say the 41-year-old man was attacked in Bath Lane about 9pm on Thursday. He managed to make it to The Sporting Globe on Hargreaves Street before collapsing. Staff called emergency services and gave first aid until paramedics arrived. He was taken to hospital and is now listed in a stable condition.
The accused teenager, from the Greater Bendigo area, was arrested by protective service officers at Bendigo Railway Station on Saturday night. Police allege he was part of a group of up to six youths involved in the attack. He was already on bail at the time.
After being interviewed, the boy was charged with intentionally causing injury, affray, assault with a weapon, and committing an indictable offence while on bail. He has been remanded in custody and is expected to face a children’s court at a later date.
The allegations are ugly enough on their own: a man sleeping rough, chased and stabbed in a city laneway, then staggering into a pub for help. But the bail allegation gives the case its political weight. It lands in Victoria at a time when knife violence, youth offending and bail settings are already under heavy pressure.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan, whose electorate includes Bendigo East, has called the attack horrifying and defended her government’s record on police powers. Local political opponents say the community needs harder answers. Homelessness advocates are also warning that the attack will be felt by people sleeping rough far beyond Bath Lane.
Council to Homeless Persons chief executive Debora Di Natale said the attack was unacceptable and would leave rough sleepers worried about their own safety. That is the part of this story that should not get buried under the politics. A man with nowhere secure to go was allegedly hunted through a central street and left bleeding.
Police say the investigation is continuing, and they are still working through the alleged involvement of others in the group.
Source: ABC News reporting from Central Victoria, published Sunday, 7 June 2026.
