Vic boys to return to court over bashing

Three boys accused of assaulting an American surgeon in Melbourne will return to a children's court on Tuesday as lawyers argue that their case should be heard by a higher court.

The trio, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were allegedly part of a group of about eight youths who bashed Edmund Pribitkin and his son on January 17 after the Australian Open tennis.

The eminent surgeon was punched and kicked to the ground and his belongings were stolen after the group stopped the pair asking for cigarettes, police claim.

Dr Pribitkin was placed in an induced coma, had titanium plates inserted into his face, and requires further facial and orthodontic surgery.

The three teenagers are on bail and were not required in court on Friday.

The court was told an application to move the case to a higher court will still proceed next week despite a relevant witness being overseas.

A judge ordered that clinical assessments undertaken by the children's court be released to prosecutors and defence teams before Tuesday's hearing.

The court was previously told the boys had been involved in fights while in custody.

At least one of the 17-year-olds was slapped with new charges after an alleged fight at the Melbourne Youth Justice Centre in February.