Brutes, bullies, bashers and beasts: Violent thugs of the southeast
Coward-punchers, head stompers, pensioner punchers and fast food fiends are among fight-happy felons to have fronted our courts.
South East
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Violence is a scourge on our society with far too many people, such as these hateful offenders, committing horrific crimes against the community.
‘MAKES ME FEEL DANGEROUS’
After tramping down on the boy’s head four times Mitchell Loader then stood over the semiconscious kid as he lay on the ground, calling him a “c***” before taking his runners.
All of this was witnessed by horrified families and children in the nearby playground.
The Cranbourne East 19-year-old had also repeatedly kicked a man in the face at Frankston’s Bayside Shopping Centre food court just three weeks before.
He said he liked taking drugs, which caused him to react violently, because they “made him angry” and he “enjoyed this as it makes me feel dangerous”.
The magistrate said Loader’s vicious, reckless assaults would have been “frightening experiences” committed in public spaces that “exposed young children to horrific violence”.
He was sentenced to 50 days in jail – time he had already served – and given an 18-month community corrections order with 150 hours of unpaid work.
HANGRY THUG
An impatient, boozed-up brute who launched attacks on innocent people in a battle over burgers has ended up enjoying the delights of prison tucker.
Liam Knott took out his fury on an Uber Eats driver, a restaurant worker and cops in a fight night of violence at Carrum Downs McDonald’s.
In the evening incident the drunk, hangry thug launched a series of punches at a delivery driver’s head before bashing a Macca’s boss who tried to intervene.
Then when police arrived he turned his bile towards them, spitting at and kicking an officer before other cops managed to subdue him.
Just a month later the Carrum Downs 19-year-old crook was involved in an attempted robbery of a 14-year-old boy, using his dog to threaten the kid.
The magistrate said Knott’s victims were either young, vulnerable or people just doing their jobs.
“You were drunk, aggressive and abusive and spat at, punched and kicked them,” he said.
“You can’t go around bashing people for entertainment.”
He was jailed for six months, and given an 18-month community corrections order with 120 hours of unpaid work and drug and alcohol counselling.
‘A COMMUNITY DANGER’
Brandon Lega-Frost, who has a horrific history of unprovoked attacks, bashed a man with a large garden tool as he sat on a bench at Dandenong railway station.
The 25-year-old of no fixed address had only been out of jail for two weeks when he launched the “potentially fatal” assault on the completely innocent 38-year-old victim.
He approached the man and asked him if he had a cigarette, and when he said no, Lega-Frost launched into him.
He wielded the shovel and hit the man hard in the face, causing the poor bloke to collapse to the ground where he rained several more blows onto his head and body.
Over the past few years he has been in and out of jail, and has a litany of violent crimes on his rap sheet including bashing an autistic 14-year-old boy and an intellectually disabled man.
The magistrate said “his life has become completely out of control; he presents a community danger.”
He was jailed for 12 months.
‘SHUT THE F*** UP BITCH’
Daniel Minahan stood over her, smashing her phone and telling her to “shut the f*** up bitch” when she tried to call police.
She was scared that he may attack her and was also worried the stress may affect her unborn baby.
The 31-year-old Frankston ice-abuser has a shocking history of violence towards former girlfriends dating back nearly a decade.
He is also no stranger to the criminal justice system for other offending, having priors for armed robbery, assaults, handling stolen goods, weapons, drugs and burglaries.
A magistrate said he was a violent aggressor who has a propensity for “harming people who are vulnerable, people who are weaker than him”.
He was jailed for eight months.
PENSIONER PUNCHER
A drugged-up coward who targeted an elderly disabled man and tried to steal his phone and wallet got his just desserts after the plucky pensioner fought back.
Benjamin Theodore Dow was at the Cranbourne Park Shopping Centre when he king-hit the victim, who used a walking frame to help get about, in the face.
But the brave bloke didn’t back down, scuffling with the weak 24-year-old junkie until the coward gave in and ran off empty-handed.
Shop workers aided the elderly man, who was taken to hospital for treatment to injuries to his face.
Dow said he was “triggered” into an “impulsive” attack on the pensioner because at the time he thought the man was a sexual predator — he wasn’t — but did not say why he tried to steal from him.
The magistrate said attempted robbery and assault on a defenceless man was serious.
“He was a very vulnerable victim, (Dow) selected an easy target,” she said.
He was jailed for nine months and ordered to do a 12-month community corrections order upon release.
‘FEMININE BOYFRIEND’
An angry thug bashed his ex-partner’s new lover, punching, pushing and throwing him around a garden because he didn’t think he was man enough.
Darren Robert Brooker attacked the woman’s paramour following an alcohol-fuelled row after his daughter’s 19th birthday celebrations turned sour.
The 45-year-old Langwarrin self-employed concreter walked up to his former girlfriend’s new beau and pushed him into a door, knocked him to the ground and punched him in the face.
He then pulled him up and threw him into the garden before pushing him down and hitting him in the face again.
An ambulance came to treat the victim, who Brooker had labelled a “feminine boyfriend”, for injuries including a cut eye, a split lip and a bloody nose.
His lawyer said he was extremely remorseful for his out-of-character behaviour and requested a community corrections order not be imposed as he was moving to NSW to run a hotel business.
He was convicted and fined $1200.
