Stanley Bligh: Ipswich man sentenced for violent attack on elderly woman

An Ipswich man has faced sentence in a Beenleigh court for dragging an elderly woman to the ground and stealing her handbag because he “wanted money”.

An elderly woman was walking to her local community hall when a teenager grabbed her handbag and dragged her to the ground, forcing her face into the footpath, a court has heard.

Stanley Bligh, 24, of Silkstone faced Beenleigh District Court on Thursday, July 28 on one count of receiving tainted property, two counts of fraud, and one count of robbery with personal violence.

Crown prosecutor Ayesha Black told the court Bligh was 19 years old when he attended a man’s home at Sunnybank with his then-15-year-old co-offender in the early hours of December 13, 2017.

The child offender is alleged to have entered the victim’s house and stolen his wallet, car keys, passport, bank cards, driver’s licence, and jacket, as well as a GPS device.

The court heard the 15-year-old exited the home and handed Bligh the car keys, who then drove the pair away from the house in the victim’s car.

Ms Black said the victim woke in the morning to find his Ford sedan and other belongings had been stolen. Police later found the 15-year-old’s fingerprints at the property.

Later that same day, about 9.05am, a 65-year-old woman was walking along a footpath to Sunnybank Community Hall with a Gucci handbag in one hand and an umbrella in another when a car stopped about 1m in front of her.

The court heard Bligh exited the car and grabbed the handbag from the woman, dragging her to the ground. Her head collided with the grass and her face with the footpath.

Bligh ran back to the car and left the scene.

The elderly woman suffered bruising to her left cheek, which extended to her eyebrow and nose, and scratches to her left ear and the inside of her left wrist.

Several days later, the woman identified two possible suspects when shown an array of pictures – one of whom was Bligh.

Ms Black said Bligh indicated he stole the woman’s purse because he “wanted money”.

The Ipswich man’s counsel indicated he had spent a significant amount of time in custody – 820 days, about two years and two months – and suffered mental difficulties including schizophrenia, also noting he was just 19 years old when he offended.

Judge Craig Chowdhury took into account Bligh’s “impaired” level of functioning, his timely pleas of guilty, his criminal history, and the seriousness of his offending when deciding an appropriate penalty.

He sentenced Bligh to a total of 820 days’ imprisonment, declaring the 820 days he had already spent in custody time served under the sentence.