Mornington home invasion: Joshua and Grace Heard’s frightening alleged attack on mum
A Mornington mum accepted she would be “murdered” while desperately trying to protect her children from an axe-wielding menace and his nasty sister during a frightening alleged home invasion the victim said she could “never recover from”.
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A violent brother and sister combo allegedly terrorised a mother and her two children during a frightening home invasion at Mornington.
Josh and Grace Heard allegedly stormed their victim’s home just before 7.30pm on July 25 last year, the County Court heard.
The sibling terrors — Josh armed with an axe and Grace with a cricket bat — allegedly snuck into the house via an unlocked side door while the victim’s husband was not home.
Grace — who the court heard was the ”primary offender” – allegedly snatched her victim’s iPhone, grabbed her hair and pulled her into the hallway.
She allegedly demanded valuables but the victim said she had none.
“We know that you do because we have been watching you,” Grace allegedly snarled at her victim.
The victim handed over her pearl necklace and an iPad but the evil siblings wanted more.
Josh ransacked the victim’s bedroom, overturned her mattress and rifled through her underwear drawer.
Grace allegedly interrogated the mum about where her husband and his car was.
The traumatised children were separated from their mother and placed in the loungeroom.
Grace allegedly ordered her victim to write down her PIN numbers and pass codes for her credit cards, iPad and iPhone.
The frightened mother couldn’t remember her codes so Josh “lifted the axe” to her face and threatened to break her nose, the court heard.
Grace allegedly slapped the mum three times in the face and ordered Josh to “keep an eye on her”.
The victim was placed in the loungeroom with her children before the siblings allegedly continued ransacking the house.
The victim ran to a neighbour’s house and called police after the siblings fled with items including jewellery and perfume.
Witnesses allegedly saw the pair trying to push the victim’s car down the road.
Police located Josh hours later sleeping in a shed at the rear of a Mornington property.
In her victim impact statement, the mother said she accepted she would be murdered.
“As a mother of two toddlers, who has endeavoured to provide a safe and nurturing home to my children, it traumatised me to feel powerless to protect them and has such changed me forever,” the victim said.
“The realisation there was an intruder in my house holding an axe is a memory I cannot erase, my thoughts flew instantly to the safety and welfare of my two children.
“I could not hear my children and I begged the female offender to let me see them but she wouldn’t.
‘I was frantically trying to think of the safest way out of the situation for me and my children.
“I could not bring myself to leave my children under any circumstance so I stayed where I was.
“Despite repeated threats I could not remember my phone code and had accepted I was going to be murdered.
“This has been an extremely difficult conclusion to recover from.
“The love I once felt for our beautiful family home no longer exists, and as such I have decided to leave the bad memories behind.
“Although I have relocated the trauma follows me wherever I go.
“Regardless of the consequences for Josh and Grace, I will be living with this for the rest of my life and I fear the long-term impact that this event will have upon my children.”
Josh, 19, was sentenced in the County Court on Wednesday to two years’ and 8 months’ detention in a youth justice centre after pleading guilty to charges including home invasion.
The court heard he ransacked his victim’s home after stealing items from her husband’s car the evening before.
He dodged a stint in adult prison because of his “small stature” and “youthful appearance”, the court heard.
Judge David Sexton said the home invasion was “particularly serious” offending.
“I do not accept that you were unaware that children would be present at the household when you entered as a trespasser,” Judge Sexton said.
“(It) must have been an incredibly traumatising experience for the victim and her two children.”
Grace, 21, will contest charges, including home invasion, at a trial pencilled in for March next year.
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