By Benjamin Millar
A teen offender who fractured a man’s skull during a brazen attempted robbery has been sentenced to serve two years in youth detention over an attack that has left his victim mentally and physically scarred.
The County Court last month heard the man, now 19, approached the victim outside his Footscray apartment block on May 9 last year and twice struck him on the back of the head from behind with a 25-centimetre shifter.
As the victim spun around and raised his hands, the man demanded “give me your shit” and struck him again above the right eye and on his raised hands, causing him to fall to the ground. He kept striking the victim until he was able to escape into a café next door as his attacker ran from the scene.
The man was arrested on May 15 and admitted the offending, saying only that he needed the cash. Police arresting the man found he was carrying a multi-tool with an axe head. Judge Peter Wischusen told him his actions had caused lasting “physical and mental damage to the victim”.
“The blow to his head caused a fracture of his skull that required plating and screwing and caused the near complete detachment of the retina of his right eye, which had to be reattached by surgery,” he said.
“Unsurprisingly, his sense of security has been greatly damaged by your actions and his cautious and anxious approach to many aspects of what he used to regard as his ordinary day-to-day activities are described in detail in the victim impact statement.”
The man pleaded guilty to one charge of attempted armed robbery, one charge of intentionally causing injury and a summary charge of possessing a prohibited weapon.
He was convicted and sentenced to detention in a youth justice centre for a period of two years, minus time already served on remand.
