Elderly woman bashed, robbed, locked in house by drunk during horror four-hour ordeal
An elderly woman who was senselessly beaten by a drunk in her home in Melbourne’s north was left with broken bones after the four-hour ordeal. And the horrifying attack followed revelations her attacker once had dreams to help victims of violence.
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A drunk who locked an elderly woman inside her home and brutally bashed her in a horrifying four-hour ordeal in Melbourne’s north has been jailed.
Steven Spirovski, 54, was sentenced in the County Court to a minimum of two years and four behind bars after shattering the 76-year-old’s cheekbone and stealing money from her on December 9.
The court heard the victim, who lived alone, was punched in the face as she opened the door after hearing someone knock about 1.30am.
Spirovski, who was on bail for unrelated offences, forced himself inside before locking the door and leaving the petrified woman with no way to get out.
The alcoholic remained inside for four hours, where he took a kitchen knife to the woman’s temple before striking her in the eye.
And as the battered woman’s nose bled, she was forced to retrieve $650 cash from her bedroom before the coward threw the notes on the floor and stood over her as she picked them up.
Spirovski shattered a television and mirror as he swung a stool around the living room.
“(The victim), understandably, was extremely scared and thought you were going to kill her,” Judge Sarah Leighfield said on July 31.
Spirovski — who grew up in Fitzroy and North Melbourne — left the victim’s house about 5.30am while the bloodied woman walked herself to St Vincent’s Hospital.
And as she was treated for a broken cheekbone, a busted lip, bruising and upper body soreness, she told police she was “feeling very sad” and was “crying all the time”.
The terrifying attack came just one month after a boozed up Spirovski, who is unemployed and estranged from his family, allegedly produced a knife on a tram.
Ms Leighfield heard Spirovski had a “long history” of drug and alcohol abuse which started when he was a teenager and had a criminal history which dated back to 1996.
He managed to get clean between 2012 and 2017 but then began using substances following the breakdown of his marriage.
The court heard Spirovski recently engaged in a men’s behaviour change program and completed a certificate in mental health work in a bid to help people like his victim.
But he was forced to give up his dream as his bad rap sheet made it impossible to find work.
“On the one hand your prior history and current offending demonstrates you have great difficulty in maintaining long term positive change … on the other, you present as someone who does wish to make positive changes and does make effort to engage in treatment,” Ms Leighfield said.
“To date, you’ve not been able to convert what you’ve learnt into ongoing sustained positive action during periods of increased stress.”
Spirovski, who pleaded guilty to a number of charges including armed robbery and recklessly cause injury, was sentenced to three years and 10 months behind bars with a non-parole period of two years and four months.
brittany.goldsmith@news.com.au
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