No bail for stabbing accused

A 13-year-old boy charged with murder over the fatal stabbing at a Brisbane bayside school yesterday has been remanded in custody following a court hearing.

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A 13-year-old boy has been remanded in custody over the stabbing death of a fellow student.

The case against of the boy, who cannot be named, was briefly mentioned in Brisbane Children's Court on Tuesday.

Twelve-year-old Elliot Fletcher died after the incident in the schoolgrounds of St Patrick's College, Shorncliffe, on Monday morning.

The 13-year-old boy's lawyers made no application for bail and he was remanded in custody to reappear in court on April 29.

The boy did not appear in court and no details of charges were read.

On Monday night, police said the boy had been charged with one count of murder.

Rudd horrified by deadly school yard stabbing

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd struggled to find the words when asked to respond to the tragedy in his home state.

"It's horrifying," he told reporters in Canberra.

"Australia's not the sort of place where this should be happening in the school yard."

Opposition calls for new laws targeting schoolyard violence

The Queensland Oppositiopn says the local government should introduce a new criminal offence of assault on school grounds in the wake of the fatal stabbing.

Mr Langbroek said laws were needed to better protect teachers and students from violent attacks on school grounds and to crack down on school "fight clubs".

He said he wanted to give police greater power to investigate violence at schools as school management currently could limit their ability to do so.

And he wants a crackdown on students who organise fights and post videos and photographs of them online.

Mr Langbroek denied he was politicising the issue and said he simply wanted to work with Ms Bligh, as parents, on behalf of the parents of Queensland to address what he feared was a growing trend of violence.

"I know all parents do not want our schools to become like those that we imagine often in the United States," he told reporters in Brisbane.

"That's why it's important for us to acknowledge that there is a problem and to make sure that we do as much as we can to work it out before we get to that stage."

He said data on the number of knives brought to schools should be released.

Premier Anna Bligh has said the government would apply any lessons learnt from a review of security at St Patrick's and the police investigation to improve safety for Queensland students.

"I think it's fair to say that schools in Queensland are not like some of the schools we might see in some of the big cities in the US," Ms Bligh told reporters following the attack on Monday.

"We don't have a serious problem with children bringing implements and weapons to school." Comment is being sought from the attorney-general.


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