Man left with grisly ‘Joker smile’ after alleged robbery attempt

A knock at the door in the dead of night has permanently altered the lives of a Blue Mountains family, after a young man with severe facial lacerations approached them for help.

A Blue Mountains family turned from frightened residents to first responders when a critically injured man turned up at their door with his face slashed like “a Joker smile”.

Police are still hunting those responsible for the violent attack, which they claim was an attempted armed robbery.

Just before 10pm, a knock at the door interrupted resident Alice and her family’s quiet night in at their home in the small town of Glenbrook.

Alice, 23, told The Sunday Telegraph that the family were “all just doing (their) own thing” before her father answered the door and found a trio of young men, one of whom was bleeding heavily from his face and legs.

“(Dad) yelled for us to come and bring the bandages and call the police. The man had gashes on his leg and face… he was just bleeding onto the deck,” she said.

The front porch where the 19-year-old man was treated by members of the household and paramedics. Picture: Supplied

Speaking to the extent of the man’s injuries, Alice described the facial lacerations as “a Joker smile”: “One side seemed to go further up than the other… they were deep, there will be scars.”

After emergency services arrived, paramedics treated the 19-year-old man before he was flown to Westmead Hospital “in a critical condition”.

Alice said the young men told her they had been “watching videos on their phones” in an area of thick bush at the bottom of Emu Rd, called “The Bluff” by locals, before they were attacked.

“After the attack, they came up the road to get help as their car tyres had been slashed and their phones smashed,” she said.

“Everyone is just very surprised because this doesn’t happen in Glenbrook.

“Normally, if one of us isn’t home we leave one of the doors unlocked … now, doors will always be locked and we’ll be getting security cameras for the house.”

The young men had been watching vidoes on their phones at Bluff Reserve. Picture: Thomas Lisson

Glenbrook has a population of just over 5000 people, and BOCSAR statistics indicate the area has a crime rate which is significantly lower than the state average.

Alice’s next-door neighbour Jenni said she was startled by banging on her front window before she stepped outside to investigate.

“I found a torch and went out and by then there were three young boys over at my neighbour’s house … they were all a bit frantic,” she said.

“I’ve been here for 33 years, and it’s not the sort of thing you hear about at all… I still can’t believe it.”

On Saturday night police said no charges had been laid and the investigation was ongoing.

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