Arken Sharrouf: Terrorist’s brother bashed woman over hair length, court hears
Arken Sharrouf, the brother of one of Australia’s most notorious terrorists, hacked off a crying woman’s hair with nail scissors before bashing her because he believed she was a police informant, a Sydney court has heard.
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The brother of one of Australia’s most notorious terrorists allegedly hospitalised a woman during a savage attack that began during an argument about her hair, a court heard.
Khaled Sharrouf’s brother Arken claims he was highly psychotic when he attacked the woman and shaved her head in south Sydney last year, believing he was possessed by the devil and she was a police informant.
The Crown alleges Sharrouf became enraged with the woman for brushing her hair on July 1, 2019, screaming: “your hair is all over the floor, it’s too long, stop growing it!”
The 33-year-old father hacked off the crying woman’s locks with a pair of small nail scissors, his Downing Centre District Court trial heard.
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The next night without warning, Sharrouf allegedly choked and punched the woman before kicking her and stomping on her as she lay on the floor, the Crown prosecutor said.
“She was dizzy and drifting in and out of consciousness,” she said on Wednesday.
“The accused said nothing during this assault.”
Sharrouf’s alleged victim staggered into a police station late at night on July 2, 2019 wearing a torn Islamic hijab and pleading for help.
She had a fractured left eye socket, 10 broken ribs and two fractured vertebrae and was hospitalised for nine nights.
Sharrouf has pleaded not guilty to assault causing grievous bodily harm, choking and intimidation due to mental illness.
The schizophrenic later told his psychiatrist “I can’t remember what happened, I got angry and blacked out,” the court heard.
Sharrouf told arresting police he’d been at the gym around the time of the vicious attack, the prosecutor said.
He soon became furious when officers couldn’t find his medication, accusing them of working for spy agency ASIO, she said.
Psychiatrist Dr Martin Reading told the court Sharrouf stopped taking his medication weeks before the alleged assault because he’d gained more than 20 kilograms, and had also raised concerns with a doctor about sex drive issues.
That GP prescribed him an anti-obesity amphetamine which “significantly worsens schizophrenia symptoms”, the court heard.
Dr Reading has told the court Sharrouf felt like a “passive rag doll controlled by external forces” including demons and evil spirits, and has been a suicide risk while in custody.
“He would have been highly psychotic … he did hold a delusion that his (partner) was a police informant,” he said.
“And he was also experiencing auditory hallucinations, which were quite distressing for him, and may have been commanding him to do things as well.”
While appearing via video link Sharrouf at times has lowered his head on a desk, tried to pray on the ground, paced around the room and fidgeted with his long beard.
The known Islamic State supporter became depressed after his brother Khaled was killed fighting with the terrorist group in Syria in 2017, and tried to self medicate by binging on alcohol, the court heard.
Khaled Sharrouf travelled to the Middle East in 2013 and was killed in a US air strike in August 2017.
The notorious terrorist also claimed to be schizophrenic, and had been collecting thousands of dollars from his Disability Support Pension while committing heinous war crimes in the self-proclaimed caliphate.
In January Arken Sharrouf was hit with more than 70 additional charges for alleged ongoing abuse against a former partner between May 2007 and October 2008.
The trial continues.