Teen charged in Cairns school stabbing granted bail

A 15-year-old boy charged with stabbing another teen at a Cairns school has been given bail, with a magistrate finding new information "paints a different picture" to police statements.

The injured boy, also 15, was released from Cairns Hospital over the weekend.

He spent last week being treated for a wound on his right side which pierced his liver, plus "six small lacerations or scratches".

The court heard surgery was not required.

The boys were involved in a fight at a high school a week ago during the first break on the first day of the new school term.

Cairns Children's Court heard today police have an 18-second video of the fight and that witnesses separated the boys after they saw blood.

The accused, who appeared in the dock, was represented by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services lawyer Steven Baso on a charge of acts intended to cause grievous bodily harm.

Mr Baso said a disagreement in social media messages between the boys started early in the winter school holidays and escalated the night before the fight.

Mr Baso said a sworn police statement alleging the accused arranged for the knife to be brought to school was "overstated" and not supported by evidence.

"The providence of the knife is a key aspect," Mr Baso told the court.

However, the court heard the defendant told police in his statement he got the knife from "someone at school" when asked where it came from.

"Rather than demonstrating malicious intent, there may be a defensive mindset," Mr Baso said.

Mr Baso presented Acting Magistrate Kellie Walker with 18 images of a conversation between the defendant and the complainant.

"The first reference to any sort of physical violence comes from the complainant and has a message where he's threatening to gang up on him," he said.

Ms Walker agreed the defendant did not challenge the complainant, was not the aggressor, had not arranged someone to bring the knife, and that the fight was not over a girl.

"I accept the text messages in these proceedings paint a different picture in relation to the background leading up to the fight than that deposed in the bail affidavit," Ms Walker told the court.

Ms Walker said there were discrepancies in the police's bail objection.

"At no time in the text messages do you say to the complainant things such as, 'I will bash you', or 'I will fight you', which is an allegation made by the complainant in his statement to police," she said.

"The prosecution case with respect to the premeditation of the attack has been weakened by the statements tendered today," she said.

The magistrate accepted the defendant had felt paranoid after he was threatened, and that he was distressed after the fight.

Police prosecutor Marie Griffiths said she opposed bail because the child posed an unacceptable risk to the community.

She told the court she expected the boy would be sentenced to between three and six years in prison if found guilty.

But Ms Walker told the court she was not convinced a lengthy period of detention would inevitably follow a successful conviction.

His bail conditions mean he will be under a 24-hour curfew, is unable to attend school or use social media, and cannot contact the other teenager or other witnesses from school.

The case returns to the children's court in early September.