Women plead guilty to bashing Reservoir paramedic but attempt to avoid mandatory jail time
TWO women accused of bashing a paramedic so badly he has been unable to return to work are desperately attempting to get out of a mandatory jail sentence.
Law & Order
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TWO women accused of bashing a paramedic so badly he has been unable to return to work 17 months after the brutal attack, are desperately attempting to avoid a mandatory six month stint behind bars.
Caris Underwood, 20, and Amanda Warren, 30, today pleaded guilty in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court to the attack, during which they kicked, punched and stomped on veteran paramedic Paul Judd as he tried to treat a drug affected man in March last year.
The pair’s defence lawyers argued the young mothers should not spend any time behind bars, despite the offence carrying a minimum six-month jail sentence.
The court heard alcohol, dysfunctional upbringings and dependent children were all factors that should excuse them from mandatory sentencing.
But the prosecution said the “incomprehensible” attack was nothing more than a “common garden variety alcohol fuelled assault”.
Paramedic Chenaye Bentley was also punched in the head when she attempted to pull the mob off her colleague — a paramedic of more than 40 years.
Ms Bentley told the court she had been “consumed by fear” and suffered survivor’s guilt following the assault.
After returning to work, Ms Bentley said she began “second guessing” her patients and was “waiting for someone to come out and hurt me”.
“Each day I put on my uniform I am reminded,” she said in her victim impact statement.
Warren, a mother of four, and Underwood, who was 18 years old with a young son at the time of the attack and has since given birth to her second child, did not know each other prior to the day of the attack.
The women are understood to have shared a bottle of bourbon and champagne during a binge drinking episode that began the morning of March 31.
The court heard the women and a 15-year-old boy, who cannot be named, called 000 after finding a man laying in a Reservoir street about 6pm.
Mr Judd and Ms Bentley arrived a short time later and Warren told the pair she and Underwood were trying to help the man because “that’s the type of people we are”.
When Mr Judd asked the group to leave so they could attend to the man, Warren said: “I don’t like your attitude. I’m going to punch you in the face”.
Warren then tackled Mr Judd to the ground and the group repeatedly punched and kicked the 61-year-old who suffered multiple fractures and has undergone two surgeries to repair his severely damaged foot.
Both women pleaded guilty to intentionally causing serious injury while Warren also pleaded guilty to causing criminal damage after she rammed her car into the ambulance after the sickening attack on Mr Judd.
The case was adjourned with the women to be sentenced at a later date.