They consistently emphasize that it is a domestic incident unrelated to Scientology and yet for most questions they don't have answers, but that one they are certain of.
A good legal counsel should hone in on that point as that is the entire reason for the incident.
My thought is that if it was a domestic dispute not involving Scientology then why did he kid go there? Why not wait till later to take it up when she came home because according to the report, the initial incident happened off the premises, a place she would be returning to later in the day or evening?
That is a point I would be all over. Authorities say they don't know enough yet to answer questions but are certain of the cause of the incident which could only have been told to them by the church or the mother, if she was interviewed. The source of the cause of the incident is on the testimony of someone at the church. If they felt it necessary to escort him out, then why didn't they contact the authorities about the dispute that they felt was big enough to escort him away? After all, if they felt it necessary to remove him then the kid had already committed affray on the premises and they should have called the police at that moment instead of taking the law into their own hands.
As far as I know, private security is not law enforcement and if Australian law doesn't allow you to use more than equivalent force to get someone out of your own house then what force was used to get the kid removed from the building? Was he being cooperative on being asked to leave or did they grab him and begin to remove him? What is meant by escort because in order to get him to leave without touching him he would have had to have been compliant to leaving on verbal commands only? He obviously went there with the intent of seeing his mother so, what set him off as he was being escorted down the road if he was being compliant up to the point of the incident?
The police assume he premeditated the attack because he had the knife but who was he intending to hurt with it? Isn't it also possible he brought it as a defense because he had had prior encounters with the church? Would he have premeditated killing a security guard before he went there and why? He was there to see his mother which they say is the only reason for the incident, a problem just between the mother and himself. He could have waited till she came home to kill her if that was his intent. What motive would he have for premeditated attack on a security guard?
Charges are laid if there is enough information to get heard in court. I think (opinion only) that this is a way to get proceedings organised and to see if the defendant will be remanded of released on bail. My guess is that he was remanded because his mother is unsuitable to care for him at this time, depending upon her level of involvement in the matter and there is nowhere else to place him. Also depends upon possible risks if he is released.
Afterwards the charges are either contested or uncontested by both sides as the investigation concludes. If uncontested, the court will drop the charge. Further charges can be laid at a later date (before the trial) if the need arises.
Security guards here are subject to reasonable force laws as well. A number of them have been imprisoned for using excessive force. Strangely enough , a fair number of them come from (and are still involved in) criminal backgrounds, like bikie gangs, etc. I believe the Hells Angels here also run security companies used for private functions using their members as staff.
What may surprise you Americans is an armed security guard here (with a special gun license) can only draw his weapon for personal defence if someone threatens him with (what could be considered) a weapon. He cannot use it to defend someone else (even his partner) or to protect property. He will potentially face severe penalties if he does so.
It is possible (coff,coff) that it did not directly involve scientology for all we know. Maybe he went there to sort something out with his mother and made a scene, forcing the staff to evict him. Was the victim a security guard or a staffer and what were they doing at that moment?
I hope the kid has a private lawyer. The ones from Legal Aid can only do so much with budget limitations and are not always that great.
Just remembering that old saying- "Justice is only for those who can afford it"....