Wyong shopkeeper Steven Van Meeteren reads victim impact statement after stabbing
Wyong shopkeeper Steven Van Meeteren has a scar from his belly button to his chest and a permanent limp as a result of a vicious attack which saw him stabbed seven times in April 2019. He stared down three of the people charged over the incident as he detailed the impact their actions had on him in court.
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The Wyong shopkeeper who was stabbed seven times in a bungled robbery has faced three of the people charged over the incident, explaining the attack has left him in constant pain and unable to return to his shop.
The wounds included a 7cm tear in his diaphragm which 90 per cent of Steven Van Meeteren’s stomach and part of his liver were sucked through.
“You can’t imagine the pain,” Mr Van Meeteren told a court this week in front of three of the people charged over the attack.
“I am in constant pain, every day. I have a punctured lung that has not completely healed. My scars show people can be cruel and relentless for their own purposes.”
Darryl Webb and two female minors, who cannot be identified, openly cried in Gosford District Court as Mr Van Meeteren, 42, described how the bungled robbery and attack inside his shop, Carmichael’s Corner Store, has impacted his life.
Webb and the two minors are to be sentenced over their roles in the incident on April 22, 2019.
The man who pleaded guilty to the stabbing, Lachlan Bell 19, was sentenced to six years and nine months in April this year, with a non parole period of three years and five months.
In June 2020, Webb, 19, pleaded guilty to intent to rob in company. Facts tendered to the court reveal that Webb, Bell and two females were seen outside the store around 8.40am. Just after 9am, Bell and the two females entered the store.
“Webb remained outside acting as a lookout,” the facts state.
The botched robbery only lasted a few minutes, with Bell threatening Mr Van Meeteren with a knife and demanding money. When Mr Van Meeteren resisted and defended himself with a mallet Mr Bell stabbed him several times and left him in a pool of blood.
“The offender (Webb) remained standing outside the shop for the entire duration of the incident and did not see the events which took place inside,” the facts state.
One of the minors remained behind to tend to Mr Van Meeteren, while the others fled.
A few hours later Webb headed off to his 18th birthday “function” at Carl’s Jr in Bateau Bay.
After the party he told his disability support worker that he was “freaked out” about something and handed himself to police.
Mr Van Meeteren was visibly shaking and emotional as he read his impact statement, saying he has not been back to the shop since the incident. Prior to the attack, he had worked almost every day for 13 years.
Now, when the father of three gets close to the shop, now run by his wife, his hands start to tremble and his breath quickens.
“Fear overwhelms me and I find it hard to breathe,” he said. “The closest I have been is outside in my car … knowing it is the place where I was attacked and nearly died.”
Mr Van Meeteren explained that he was now fearful of crowds and young people and was “always looking over his shoulder” out in public.
He had dreams of becoming a personal gym instructor and was just 30 hours away from completing his degree when the accident happened. His injuries prevent him from finishing.
Mr Van Meeteren has had five surgeries in the last year and is on daily medication for pain in his hip and shoulders, as well as depression and anxiety.
“I hope what happens to me never happens to you,” he told the three youths in court.
Judge David Wilson said Mr Van Meeteren’s statement took enormous courage.
“The true affect has only become apparent listening to your heartfelt statement,” he said.
Webb’s defence indicated they would be pushing for an Intensive Corrections Order as a sentence, which is the equivalent of a jail sentence served in the community, with the inclusion of home detention.
Webb and the two minors will be sentenced in the coming months.