Kyle Bloom pleads guilty to aggravated burglary, assault in Norlane home invasion

A drug addict broke into a house and attacked his uncle with a meat tenderiser after becoming enraged the man was in a relationship with his ex-partner, a court has heard.

Kyle Bloom pleaded guilty to three indictable offences and several summary offences on Wednesday. Picture: Facebook

A drug addict broke into a house and attacked his uncle with a meat tenderiser after becoming enraged the man was in a relationship with his ex-partner, a court has heard.

Kyle Bloom, 26, appeared in the Geelong Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, and pleaded guilty to three offences, including one count of aggravated burglary while armed with an offensive weapon and one count of common law assault.

The court heard that on August 14 last year, about 9.55am, Bloom went to his 24-year-old ex-partner’s address in Norlane and began yelling outside for his 37-year-old uncle to come out.

Armed with a meat tenderiser, Bloom began “banging on the front door, smashing windows and kicking the back gate”, the court was told.

The court heard Bloom, of Corio, “caused significant damage” to the front door by kicking it, breaking it down as his ex-partner called police.

Inside, Bloom attacked his uncle, hitting him in the head with the meat tenderiser, causing a “laceration” to the top-right hand side.

The altercation between the two relatives moved into the home’s front yard before Bloom hopped on his bike and fled.

At the scene, police found the front door open, its frame splintered and locking mechanism severely damaged, as well as blood on the floor.

Bloom was arrested by police later that day, and when interviewed “made admissions to entering (his ex-partner’s) house with intent to assault (his uncle)”.

He told police he punched the man, but denied having using a meat tenderiser in the assault.

At the time of the home invasion, Bloom was on bail and serving a community corrections order (CCO) imposed by the Geelong Magistrates’ Court in May 2023, the court heard.

The court heard that immediately prior to the incident, Bloom had consumed GHB.

Bloom’s lawyer, Natasha Freijah, told the court her client had become concerned about the relationship his ex and uncle, but understood his actions, and taking the law “into his own hands”, was unacceptable.

Judge George Georgiou said the context did little to justify the offending.

“It is not a random act of violence, it is heavily tied in to your client’s raging drug abuse, his hot-headedness, his temper, that’s the context, isn’t it?” he told Ms Freijah.

Ms Freijah that a combination sentence – of prison time followed by a CCO – was in range, given Bloom’s relative youth and prospects for rehabilitation.

The court heard Bloom had failed CCOs in the past, but those situations were “different” to the present circumstances.

“He’s never found himself in a better position mentally, than he has over the past 10 months he’s spent on remand,” Ms Freijah said.

In prison, Bloom has completed a number of programs and works six days a week in the kitchen.

Bloom, who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, is also being given new antipsychotic medication and is on an opiate replacement program, Ms Freijah said.

Ms Freijah told the court it “gives (Bloom) great confidence in his ability to maintain abstinence” upon his release.

Judge Georgiou noted, however, that Bloom was currently “in a very controlled environment”.

Bloom will be sentenced at a later date.

Originally published as Kyle Bloom pleads guilty to aggravated burglary, assault in Norlane home invasion