Larry Pritchard attacks people at Reservoir, Epping train station
A man was brutally attacked in front of other commuters at Reservoir railway station after a girl was bashed with knuckle dusters in Epping. One violent teen was behind both horrific incidents.
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An 18-year-old viciously attacked an unsuspecting man in front of other commuters at Reservoir railway station less than two weeks after he bashed a girl at another station.
Larry Pritchard left the man unconscious and needing to be hospitalised overnight, and used knuckle dusters to attack the younger girl, a court has heard.
The Lalor teen fronted Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court on Friday, September 4, having pleaded guilty to assault and theft charges from a series of incidents caught on CCTV.
The court heard a 17-year-old girl was waiting for a bus at Epping railway station about 5.45pm on May 31 when Pritchard turned up and attacked her.
He got out of the passenger side of a car, yelling, “Come here, b*itch”.
The court heard she recognised him as a former student of her school, and went over to him in fear.
He continued to swear at her, kicking her in the thigh and punching her in the cheek with brass knuckles, causing her to fall to the ground.
The girl got up and hit Pritchard back, before he punched her in the face again and went back to the car yelling, “Get the f*ck out of my area”.
When she reported it to police the next day, officers noticed bruising and swelling to her face.
Pritchard then used the help of friends to attack a man in the Reservoir station underpass about 3.45pm on June 11.
The court heard a girl, not known to the victim, approached the man and started a conversation with him in the underpass, before Pritchard appeared and hit the man in the head.
When the man turned to defend himself, another man joined and helped Pritchard punch him.
The victim was then kicked in the head and body about 10 times after he fell to the ground.
The court heard he seemed to lose consciousness and Pritchard and his two friends walked away.
But Pritchard quickly returned and repeatedly kicked the man in the body and head again, and stole his backpack, containing his phone, cologne and other possessions.
Multiple people saw the attack and phoned 000.
The victim was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital by ambulance, where he spent the night.
During the attack Pritchard was wearing an Adidas tracksuit he’d stolen from Rebel Sport Westfield Plenty Valley hours earlier.
He was wearing it again when police went to arrest him at home on June 17.
His mum stalled police as he tried to flee over the back fence, before he was caught in the neighbours’ backyard.
Magistrate Michael McNamara said Pritchard, who had only turned 18 in March, was eligible for a Youth Justice sentence order.
He sentenced the teen to 12 months detention, with 79 days having already been served, saying it would have been 18 months but for the pleas.
Mr McNamara warned Pritchard he needed to make some serious changes.
“You will spend an awful lot of time in jail if you don’t change your ways,” he said.
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