A teenager has been sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison after a series of serious offences that included a violent assault in Flemington and a later fatal car crash in Melbourne's west. The sentence was handed down in the County Court of Victoria on 18 August 2026, with Judge Amanda Chambers describing the teenager's actions as “truly shocking.”

The court heard that the teenager was 16 when he attacked 36-year-old Valentino Arop outside a Flemington housing tower on February 6, 2025. According to the court, the pair had only encountered each other that night. The teenager ran after Arop and struck him from behind before kicking and stomping on him while he was on the ground.

Arop suffered a severe brain injury and spent approximately eight months in hospital. The court heard that he was left with permanent physical and cognitive disabilities and now requires a walking frame. Judge Chambers said the injuries had significantly changed his ability to live his life and spend time with his children.

Three months after the assault, the teenager was placed on probation by the Children's Court and released into the community in relation to other offences, including motor vehicle theft and aggravated burglary. According to the court, only nine days later, he was involved in another serious incident.

The teenager got behind the wheel of a stolen SUV while intoxicated and drove through Melbourne's western suburbs. The vehicle ran a red light at the intersection of Dohertys Road and Derrimut Road in Tarneit before crashing. His passenger, 16-year-old Kevin Olenga, suffered fatal injuries in the collision.

Olenga's family provided a victim impact statement to the court describing the devastating effect of his death. His mother, Bora Mireye, spoke about the difficulty of accepting the loss of her son and the continuing grief experienced by the family.

Judge Chambers also considered the teenager's own history of serious injury. The court heard he had suffered a brain injury in another crash two years earlier, which contributed to emotional difficulties, outbursts and substance abuse. However, the judge noted that this previous experience had not prevented him from subsequently driving dangerously.

In sentencing, Judge Chambers said that two separate incidents of offending had resulted in one life being lost and another permanently altered. She also told the teenager that he would have to live with responsibility for the death of his friend.

The teenager received a sentencing discount after entering early guilty pleas to offences including intentionally causing serious injury and culpable driving causing death. The court also took into account his young age and disadvantaged background.

He was sentenced to 8½ years' imprisonment, with a minimum of 4½ years before becoming eligible for parole. Taking previously served time into account, the sentence is expected to expire in March 2034.

This is a court-reporting story, so the facts above are based on the court proceedings and should not be expanded with speculation about the offender's motives or circumstances beyond what the court established.