More than a year after the alleged murder of Zeeshan Akbar at the Queanbeyan Caltex service station, the two accused teenagers have pleaded not guilty to murder.
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The teenagers, aged 16 and 17, appeared via video link in Queanbeyan Local Court on Wednesday.
The defence lawyers for the two teens entered pleas of not guilty to murder, wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and armed robbery causing grievous bodily harm.
The three charges are classed as strictly indictable and therefore require a trial. Both teenagers had a number of other charges brought against them that while not indictable will travel with the other charges to the Supreme Court in Sydney.
The Crown prosecutor submitted applications in both cases to waive a committal hearing and proceed directly to trial.
Zeeshan Akbar's brother Faizan was in court accompanied by two friends to witness the proceedings.
The mother of the 16-year-old defendant was also in court and when her son appeared on screen she broke down in tears and mouthed "I love you" to him.
The court also heard about an incident from September last year when the 17-year-old defendant caused about $2500 worth of damage to the Frank Baxter Juvenile Justice Centre at Kariong where he was detained.
The defendant was being escorted from his holding cell to the exercise yard when he doubled back from the group and was able to scale a wall and gain access to the roof of the facility, court documents show.
According to the documents, the 17-year-old destroyed a number of air conditioning vents while on the roof and ripped off a cable which he then used to cause more damage. He gained access to the roof cavity where a power cable was located and as such power was cut to the complex.
The documents say it took more than two hours for the defendant to be persuaded to leave the roof cavity and eventually be secured by corrections staff.
The 17-year-old had pleaded guilty to the offence on a previous occasion and his defence lawyer said his history of mental health problems, for which he is on prescribed medication, was a contributing factor.
During his incarceration the defendant has spent time in a forensic mental health facility.
Despite already being in custody Magistrate Michael Antrum said there was a need for deterrence and imposed a sentence of an eight month probation order in relation to the malicious damage charge.
The two teenagers will next appear in court for the alleged murder and associated charges in early July in the NSW Supreme Court in Sydney.
