THEY have been desperate to see somebody arrested over the punch that killed their son.
And last night, Thomas Kelly's parents received the news they were hoping for.
Kieran Loveridge, just 18 years old like the man he allegedly king-hit in Kings Cross nearly two weeks ago, was arrested over Mr Kelly's death.
Detectives went to the Belmore Sports Ground yesterday evening and handcuffed the teenager as he sat in the grandstand with a friend watching a Canterbury Bulldogs coaching session.
Advertisement He was taken to Campsie police station and charged with one count of murder, one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and two counts of common assault.
Mr Kelly was hit as he walked through Kings Cross with his girlfriend and another friend just after 10pm on Saturday, July 7. The accounting cadet and former Kings School student was punched once in the head in an unprovoked attack. He died in hospital two days later when his parents, Ralph and Kathy Kelly, decided to switch off his life support.
After fronting a public appeal to find their son's killer, the ''devastated'' parents were ''taking things day by day'' as they prepared for Thomas's funeral at the Kings School in Parramatta tomorrow morning, said a close family friend, David Anstee.
He said last night that Ralph Kelly had been ''very keen'' to see an arrest. ''While it's good news for the family to have some conclusion to Thomas's inexplicable and sudden death, the bigger issue is getting to the bottom of why this crime and violence is happening on the levels that it is,'' Mr Anstee said.
Mr Kelly's death has sparked fierce debate in Sydney over alcohol-related violence in the city's popular nightspots and has prompted a four-day audit of every licensed venue in Kings Cross.
Strike Force Mohawk, comprising homicide squad detectives and Kings Cross officers, was formed to investigate the incident. It is headed by a Homicide Squad detective, Inspector Chris Olen, who also led the investigation into the Lin family killings.
The Police Assistant Commissioner, Mark Murdoch, assured the public this week that investigators were inching closer to an arrest after reviewing CCTV footage and receiving hundreds of pieces of information from the public.
It is understood police have built a circumstantial case against Mr Loveridge which includes some CCTV footage believed to be of him moving around the Kings Cross area on the night of the attack.
While the assault on Mr Kelly was not recorded, the Herald understands security cameras from a nightclub at the intersection of Victoria Street and Darlinghurst Road partially show Mr Loveridge punching another man just minutes before the attack on Thomas.
CCTV footage from another nearby club, Tunnel, has also been seized and may shed light on Loveridge's movements after he allegedly struck Mr Kelly.
One senior police source told the Herald last night Mr Loveridge allegedly may have attempted to attack one, possibly two other people that night.
Homicide investigators received a tipoff to the man's whereabouts yesterday afternoon and went the Belmore field immediately.
''We just needed a few things to fall into place and they did tonight,'' said a senior police source after the arrest.
Charbel Khoury, who was conducting a session for Bulldogs coaches at the Belmore Sports Ground last night said there were just two people in the grandstand watching the clinic which he thought was ''odd''.
Two detectives approached the young men, handcuffed one and took him away. He did not put up any resistance or attempt to flee, according to witnesses.
Mr Loveridge, who turned 18 in March, is a football fan, having played for Parramatta Touch Association. The teenager, believed to be from Glendenning, near Mount Druitt, had requested a solicitor and was awaiting his arrival late last night.
