Blake Sewell, 18, along with Alexander Raymond Iacuone, 18, Alexander Duffy, 19, and two 17-year-olds who cannot be named, is accused of conspiring to lure the boy from his home, kill him with a baseball bat and dump his body in the Cotter Reserve.

According to a police statement of facts, one of the five allegedly arranged to meet the victim near his Greenway home early on November 18.

When he arrived at the meeting place in parkland near his house, some of the other boys ran out of their hiding places and attacked him with the baseball bat.

When the victim tried to flee, the gang caught and surrounded him, and Iacuone, the alleged instigator of the plot, tried to choke the boy.

The victim told police he managed to run away to a nearby creek, evading his captors and knocking on the door of a house asking for help.

The householders called police and the boy was taken to Canberra Hospital with cuts and bruises.

In a committal hearing in the ACT Magistrates Court yesterday, lawyers for Sewell maintained that he had no substantial involvement in the conspiracy, although he had agreed to let the others use his car.

His barrister, Peter Hastings, QC, said Sewell had gone along with the others because he didn't want to leave his car unsupervised, and had later told police he didn't believe the boys would go ahead with their plan to kill the victim.

But prosecutor Shane Drumgold said the fact Sewell knew of the others' plan, and that he had allowed the others to prepare the boot of his car with a curtain in which to wrap the body, meant he was part of the plot.

The court heard the men went to Duffy's Curtin home on the night of the attack and lined the boot of Sewell's car with shovels, picks and gloves.

Mr Hastings read out parts of the police interview with Duffy, who said he had told Sewell not to come close to what was happening because he felt protective of him.

Duffy told police Sewell was a ''defenceless'' type, and that he didn't want him to be involved.

Mr Hastings pointed out that the victim had never made any reference to Sewell in his account of the events, and said Sewell could not have been part of the conspiracy if he had no intention of killing the victim and had only been curious as to what was going to happen. Magistrate John Burns has reserved his decision over whether to commit Sewell to stand trial.