Brodie Wastell pleads guilty to false imprisonment, aggravated carjacking

A woman who was slashed with a knife during a frightening carjacking has given an emotional impact statement, describing feeling helpless as she pleaded for her attacks not to kill her.

Brodie Wastell fronted the County Court at Geelong on February 11 and pleaded guilty to three offences, false imprisonment, attempted aggravated carjacking and aggravated carjacking. Picture: supplied

A woman who stopped to aid in what she thought was a medical episode was violently attacked and had her car stolen, a court heard.

Brodie Wastell, 20, appeared in the County Court at Geelong on Tuesday via videolink from Barwon prison and pleaded guilty to false imprisonment, attempted aggravated carjacking and aggravated carjacking.

The court heard Wastell held a man at knifepoint in his car, from Belmont to St Albans Park, via Breakwater on July 1, last year.

Two co-accused, Jordan Nelson and Jessica West, are also accused of holding the man at knifepoint.

Fleeing his car, the victim ran towards a witness, pleading for his help, begging him to call the police.

Shortly after, a 19-year-old firefighter and lifeguard stopped to help, thinking there was a medical emergency.

West approached the woman’s car and when confronted, West grabbed the woman’s wrist and punched her in the face three times.

Wastell, who was armed with a “large kitchen knife” told the woman to “shut the f--k up” and demanded her keys, before slashing her left hand and kicking in the stomach as she pleaded for her attackers to stop.

Her left thigh was also slashed, before two of the three thieves fled in her car, the court heard.

Wastell was arrested over the incident three days later.

In an emotional victim impact statement, the woman told the court of the “lasting imprint” the incident has had on her life, including trauma, anxiety and both financial and social costs.

“All I tried to do was help someone in need,” she said, adding her life was changed “in a matter of minutes”.

Wastell held his head low as his victim read out her statement.

The court heard she now felt anxious leaving her home, and woke up at night, reliving the incident, with “no escape route and no help, begging for them not to kill me”.

She told the court her family had to change the locks on their home and how she spent two months in rehab having sustained “severe nerve and tendon damage” to her fingers.

Her fingers still cause pain “day and night” and lost sensation, making even lifting a mug or plate more difficult.

“This attack extends so far beyond physical injuries I sustained, it shattered my sense of security and reshaped my everyday life,” she said.

Wastell’s barrister, Jo Swiney, told the court her client regretted his actions and came from a loving Geelong family, but required intensive assistance for his “complex and difficult needs”, including behavioural issues and an intellectual disability.

Ms Swiney asked for a non-parole period of around 12 months, to allow for a possible parole date prior to his NDIS planning meeting in 2026.

Wastell’s disability support co-ordinator gave evidence at the hearing regarding his NDIS plan.

The prosecution accepted that Wastell’s circumstances were such his moral culpability was lessened and the court may impose a non-parole period less than the mandatory minimum of three years for aggravated carjacking.

Wastell will be sentenced at a later date.

Originally published as Brodie Wastell pleads guilty to false imprisonment, aggravated carjacking