Teenager found guilty of murder of Melbourne teen Oscar Hamilton

A Supreme Court jury has found a teenage boy guilty of the murder of Melbourne teen Oscar Hamilton at a Melton West shopping centre.

The boy, who was 15 at the time of the killing, had pleaded not guilty to the murder.

The boy, now aged 17, will be sentenced at a later date.

A 17-year-old boy has been found guilty of the daytime stabbing murder of Melbourne teenager Oscar Hamilton at a suburban shopping centre.

The teenager's Supreme Court trial heard Oscar was hanging out with his girlfriend and two other friends at Woodgrove Shopping Centre in Melton West in September 2024 when he was stabbed three times by another teenager.

The culprit, who was aged 15 when he carried out the killing, stared straight ahead as the jury delivered its verdict after two hours of deliberation.

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had pleaded guilty to manslaughter, but prosecutors rejected the plea and pressed on with a murder trial.

He pleaded not guilty to the murder charge on the basis he did not intend to kill or seriously hurt Oscar.

Prosecutors argued the motive for the attack was an unproven allegation that Oscar had sexually assaulted the killer's ex-girlfriend, which Oscar had denied.

"This is not the tragic consequence of a fight between two boys," prosecutor Erin Ramsay said.

"This was a targeted attack."

But defence lawyers for the teenager disagreed.

"This was a young person who had clearly lost the ascendancy in terms of the pushing and shoving, who has produced a knife in response … something he accepts he should never have done," defence lawyer Richard Edney said in his closing address.

There were audible gasps in the courtroom as the verdict was delivered, with Oscar's family wiping away tears and comforting each other.

Oscar's family and friends gathered outside court following the verdict.

A family representative, who wanted to known only as Caz, read a statement on behalf of Oscar's loved ones, saying they were relieved by the outcome.

"Today justice has been served," she said.

"We are deeply relieved by the jury's guilty verdict which holds the defendant accountable for the sudden and devastating loss of our beloved Oscar.

" While this verdict brings a sense of legal closure, it doesn't lessen the profound grief and the emptiness we carry every day. "

The boy will be sentenced at a later date.