Angus Jordan: man attacks teen with baseball bat while bailed after snatching stranger’s handbag

A Mid-North Coast man, who snatched and dumped a stranger’s handbag and was then caught with a knife in public, went on to gang-bash a teenager at Red Rooster.

An injured teenager was subjected to a number of X-rays and scans in hospital after he was jumped by a group carrying weapons – including a baseball bat – in the parking lot of Red Rooster in Port Macquarie.

Angus Jordan, 21.

Angus Jordan, 21, pleaded guilty to two counts of steal value from a person (less than $2000), one of custody of knife in public (first offence), and one of assault occasioning actual bodily harm in company of others, after he targeted two different victims last year.

About midday of May 31, 2021, Jordan snatched the handbag of a 56-year-old woman as she was sitting near the front of Jon’s Family Jewellers on the corner of Horton and William streets.

Stunned, the victim jumped up and yelled “stop, stop! At least give me my keys”, agreed police facts state.

“(Jordan) sprinted along Horton St dodging pedestrians … holding the victim’s handbag,” court documents recount.

CCTV shows him running into the Port Central Shopping Center where he made a beeline for the male toilets.

“There (Jordan) went through the victim’s handbag, removing cash from an internal zipped pocket along with the victim’s purse (which) contained $60 cash, her driver’s license, Medicare card, Commonwealth Bank card, Suncorp Bank card, and her Centrelink health care card.”

Jordan dumped the bag in the cubicle, where police found it shortly after, containing only the victim’s car keys.

Agreed facts recall the victim being “very upset over the incident”.

When police arrested the man in the same area of town a month later, Jordan told them “he had a knife down the front of his pants”.

A magistrate handed down her verdict in Port Macquarie Local Court.

A search located a 23cm gold-coloured fold-out knife with a 10cm-long blade.

Jordan made full admissions to the offences, saying he took the bag “to buy food”.

He told police he bought groceries from Coles with the cash before dumping the victim’s personal cards in a wheelie bin on his way home.

In relation to the knife down his pants, Jordan stated he “had it for protection in case he was attacked in town” and told officers he knew it was against the law to possess a weapon in public.

Angus Jordan, 21.

He was placed on strict court orders to be of good behaviour, but reoffended a month after his arrest.

About 3pm on August 1, 2021, a verbal argument between Zack Nancarrow and acquaintance, Curtis Austin, broke out near St Thomas’s Anglican Church on Hay St.

Austin shouted at him “shut up ya c**khead” before punching him in the jaw.

“Nancarrow retaliated and punched Austin twice in the nose and jaw,” agreed facts claim.

Austin left the area and Nancarrow continued walking towards Gordon St with a group of friends.

“Concurrently, Austin sought the assistance of the co-offender and his partner,” court documents reveal.

“He attended their residence and cleaned up his injuries.

“Austin told them (Jordan, his co-offender, the partner, and another housemate) what the victim had done.”

The group called over the co-offender’s father and his friend before they all piled into a lime green Ford Falcon.

“The six of them then drove the vehicle around Port Macquarie in search of the victim,” police facts state.

When they found Nancarrow’s group in the Red Rooster carpark, they all approached the victim with “an unknown number of … weapons resembling sharp sticks, knives, and a bat”, while the driver stayed in the car.

The victim’s friends ran off, and Nancarrow bolted further into the carpark but was stuck by the Falcon as it drove forward.

He fell to the ground briefly but got up and ran back towards Gordon St.

The victim was knocked to the ground again by a kick to the chest from the co-offender, before suffering kicks, punches and elbows to the head and torso from Jordan.

“The victim curled up into a defensive position, tucking his knees in towards his chest and covering his head with his arms,” police facts recall.

Nancarrow’s arm fell away from the protective position at some point and, while the right side of his head was exposed, he was struck with a baseball bat which caused him to temporarily lose vision.

A short time later someone yelled “enough” and the group returned to the vehicle, with Jordan picking up the victim’s wallet – containing $100 cash, a Commonwealth Bank card, driver’s license, Medicare card, proof of age card, health care card and a pair of gold sleeping earrings – which had fallen on the ground during the scuttle.

Angus Jordan, 21.

Later that evening, Nancarrow contacted an ambulance due to soreness in his head, neck, shoulders, back, and hands and was admitted to hospital where he was subjected to a number of X-rays and scans.

Jordan’s lawyer, Susanna Gidlow, told the magistrate this “wasn’t planned criminal activity” – labelling the offences as “opportunistic” – although she noted some premeditation was evident.

Ms Gidlow said Jordan had “good prospects of rehabilitation” and that he’s made “significant changes” in his life since offending including relocating to live with family away from the city.

“He has remained offence-free since,” she said.

Magistrate Georgina Darcy told Jordan these were “serious offences”, some of which carry maximum sentences of years behind bars.

The magistrate noted the offences occurred shortly after Jordan was placed on other court orders, that he had no regard for “the children in close proximity” to his unlawful acts, and that driving “around looking for the victim” was unacceptable.

“(Jordan had) no excuse for getting involved in this kind of behaviour,” Ms Darcy scolded.

The magistrate said the matters demonstrated a “need for a sentence of imprisonment”, which Jordan will serve through home detention.

“If you breach this order, you don’t come back before the court, you go into custody,” Ms Darcy explained.

Jordan’s existing conditional release order and community correction (CCO) order were both revoked, and the magistrate handed down a fresh 12-month supervised CCO and two new intensive correction orders.

The new orders will see Jordan confined to his residence for a period of six months, as well as a period of 16 months, both from October 6.

He must also complete 80 hours of community service, follow Community Corrections directions to undertake programs that address his alcohol and anger issues, and be assessed for any underlying mental health disorders.