LAST UPDATE | 24 May 2020

AN IRISH TEENAGER has died in Australia after he fell from an apartment complex while trying to flee a group of armed robbers, police have alleged. 

Cian English (19) died after he fell from a high-rise balcony in Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast, in the early hours of Saturday morning. The deceased is originally from Carlow, but his family had relocated to Australia.

Police were called to the View Avenue apartment complex at 3.15am after they received reports that the body of a man had been discovered.

Three men aged 18, 20 and 22 were arrested overnight, and all have been charged with one count of murder and two counts of armed robbery.

The 18-year-old is due to appear in Beenleigh Magistrates Court tomorrow, while the other two men are expected to appear in the Brisbane Magistrates Court, Queensland Police said.

Superintendent Brendan Smith told reporters that police will allege that three men held English at knifepoint and that he died as he ran away from them. 

“During the course of the evening, the three main offenders have robbed the victim and his friend at knifepoint and the victim has attempted to escape and gone over the balcony,” Superintendent Smith alleged.

“The consequences of the robbery and threats made to the victim, put the consequences on those three offenders.

“There are tragic circumstances around this. We have a young man who was on the Gold Coast with his friends, one thing led to another, and he is now dead.

“I don’t know how you reconcile that as a family or a community. It’s becoming too common and we need to stop it. Violence doesn’t solve anything.”

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