Armed teen gang storms Manor Lakes home while mum and child slept
A Manor Lakes mother has spoken of being “frightened for life” after waking to find a teen gang, armed with gardening tools and a machete, storming her home as her intellectually disabled daughter slept.
Wyndham Leader
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A Manor Lakes mother threatened by an armed gang of teen hoodlums which stormed her home while she and her intellectually disabled daughter slept says she now lives in a “prison”.
The mother was “frightened for life” when the gang smashed into her home just before 6am on November 17, 2018.
The thugs walked from Wyndham Vale station to the Peppermint Crescent house then broke in via the garage, smashing a window.
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The mother woke to find the gang, armed with a sledgehammer and pair of gardening shears stolen from her garage and a machete, inside her home, a court has heard.
The brutes demanded car keys then told the woman to get inside or they would “kill her”.
She handed over the keys and the gang fled.
Police located the car outside a Point Cook Airbnb party just after 9am.
Detectives undertook an unprecedented manhunt, which included releasing the names and images of the underage suspects.
One of the offenders – who cannot be named for legal reasons – was arrested at his home on November 28.
He gave a “no comment” interview to police but later pleaded guilty to one charge of aggravated home invasion.
The youth – who narrowly avoided an adult prison sentence – was sentenced in the County Court on November 12 to four years in a youth justice centre.
Judge Liz Gaynor said the boy’s immaturity was a “real worry for the court”.
“The offending you engaged in was very violent and had a terrible impact on the persons in that house,” Judge Gaynor said.
“Before this incident she (the victim) regarded her home as a haven as a place of safety and peace.
“She said that as a result of your offending she finds that her house has turned from being a haven into a prison because she was so terrified of what occurred on that night.”
The victim said she was unable to continue her work as a carer for the elderly.
She said she felt contaminated, violated and has suffered recurring nightmares for which she has required counselling.
“When outside, I am in fear,” the mother said.
Judge Gaynor noted the boy’s “serious prior record”.
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However, Judge Gaynor said there was “strong signs the offender was not the danger to the community that he was when arrested”.
She said the youth had made “remarkable progress” since being transferred to Malmsbury, sentencing the boy to a maximum four years’ detention in a youth justice centre but he could be paroled earlier.
He had spent 350 days in custody at the time of sentencing.