Elderly man allegedly bashed unconscious by homeless man in St Albans
A man charged over the vicious daylight bashing of an elderly man in St Albans was on bail and failed to check in with authorities days before the horror attack, a court has heard.
A homeless man accused of a vicious attack that left an elderly man fighting for life in St Albans was on bail and had failed to check in with authorities days earlier.
Hien Dinh has been charged over a daylight assault that left a 73-year-old victim with life threatening injuries in St Albans on Saturday.
Police allege the 45-year-old man walked past the elderly man on Main Street East before “circling back and assaulting him, rendering him unconscious”, about 4pm.
The victim was rushed to hospital where he remains in a critical but stable condition.
Mr Dinh, of no fixed address, was arrested at the scene and has since been charged with intentionally causing serious injury and recklessly causing serious injury.
The Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Sunday heard that Mr Dinh had separately been charged with theft offences and failed to answer bail on November 19, just 10 days before the assault.
Appearing in court for a short administrative hearing, Mr Dinh was beamed in via video link from the cells at Sunshine Custody Centre, where he was dressed in a white forensic suit.
The court heard the man had been unfit to be interviewed by police but hadn’t disclosed any mental health conditions, and would be seen by the custody nurse.
He made no application for bail.
Magistrate Ronald Saines remanded Mr Dinh in custody, to return to court on the assault charges in February.
Separately, he was due to appear in court in December over the theft charges for which he’d failed to answer bail.
Originally published as Elderly man allegedly bashed unconscious by homeless man in St Albans
