The father of two brothers accused of beating their estranged stepdad to death outside a primary school has spoken out, saying he is ‘gutted’ they were charged.
Shane Harnett’s sons Connor, 21, and Liam Harnett, 22, allegedly killed Andre Szep at a reserve behind Strathaird Primary School in Narre Warren South, south-east Melbourne, on June 12.
The siblings allegedly beat Szep, 63, with fists and a pole or metal torch, in full view of hundreds of students as they knocked off from school.
The alleged victim died six days later, while the pair remain in custody on charges of recklessly causing injury and are expected to front court next month.
Shane said on Sunday he didn’t have any background information about the attack, but felt for his boys.
‘I’m gutted because a failure of the system is what’s created this, that’s all I can say,’ he told The Herald Sun.
‘I don’t know exactly the situation or anything like that.
‘I’ve got to leave it up to the boys’ lawyers, I’m not going to mess my sons’ cases up.’
The father of two brothers accused of beating their estranged stepdad (above) to death outside a primary school has broken their silence, saying he is ‘gutted’ they were charged.
He also added that while the accused brothers had been Mr Szep’s stepsons, it was ‘quite some time ago’.
A family source earlier told Daily Mail that while they didn’t condone the alleged attack, people needed to understand there was more to the story.
The distraught source claimed the alleged incident followed ‘years of suffering and abuse’ for the family.
‘No one did anything, no one helped [Liam and Connor],’ they claimed.
‘He [Andre] did all sorts of things to [the family]… stalking, surveillance, breaking into emails.’
The source said Szep worked in IT, with an ABN registered under his name called IT Locum. It was active from 2010 to 2012.
A parent of a Strathaird Primary School student told the Herald Sun that many of the school children had witnessed the alleged fatal assault.
‘The kids were shaken up… They were terrified. I could see him lying on the ground and he couldn’t get up. He appeared to be knocked out,’ she said.
Shane Harnett’s boys Connor, 21, and Liam Harnett, 22, allegedly killed Andre Szep at a reserve behind Strathaird Primary School
Andre Szep, right, pictured at a child’s birthday party in 2016
Families of the 760 students at Strathaird Primary School received a letter about the incident
The parent said she also saw the incident and that some people shouted at the alleged attackers to stop.
‘There were two men standing over him. They were yelling at him… There were people yelling at them to stop,’ she said.
‘It was quite quick, then they jumped in their car and drove off. This should never have happened at a school.’
