Axe-wielding maniac Mark Lawrence Rockwell, 33, sentenced over brutal home invasion
A woman who had her leg “cut to the bone” by an axe-wielding maniac in during a violent home invasion has bravely tried to take him on again.
A victim who had her leg “cut to the bone” by an axe-wielding maniac whose brutal violence during a Logan home invasion stunned even his co-offender has called on the Attorney-General to intervene after the man was deemed eligible for parole on the day of sentence.
Mark Lawrence Rockwell, 33, was sentenced on Friday in Brisbane’s District Court to 7.5 years with immediate parole eligibility allowing for about two years of time already served.
It was just after 6am on May 14 2020 when Esther Peters heard a knocking on her bedroom door.
She walked into the hallway where she was confronted by Rockwell, armed with a full-size axe, and a co-offender both masked and demanding money.
Rockwell swung the axe at her face but she stepped aside, barrister Damien Gates, for the Crown, said.
As Rockwell smashed his way through a locked cupboard Ms Peters dialled triple-0 and threw the phone aside, not knowing whether it connected to emergency services.
The men screamed at her for money and Rockwell swung the axe, striking her leg which she’d lifted to protect her body.
The thug then smashed her jaw with a metal pole he was carrying in his other hand, the court heard.
A brave Ms Peters pulled down Rockwell’s face mask.
“That’s it, you’re f****d now because you have seen what I look like,” Rockwell said.
As Rockwell moved towards Ms Peters’ sister, who also lived there, she grabbed his ankle.
“The defendant turned around and struck Ms Peters numerous times with the steel pole on her back,” Mr Gates said.
At this point the co-offender questioned why he was hitting Ms Peters and Rockwell ran off with a small amount of cash. The co-offender briefly helped the victims before also fleeing.
In a victim impact statement a tiny Ms Peters said Rockwell’s gratuitous unprovoked violence had uprooted and ruined her life.
“My family and I lived through a nightmare that will never leave us,” she told the court.
“You did not just injure my body you tore apart my peace, my security, my future.
“You cut my leg down to the bone. You smashed my face with the steel rod. I lay there bleeding and crying thinking I was going to die.
“I carry your violence on my body forever.”
Rockwell’s barrister Angus Edwards, KC, instructed by Owens and Associates, said his client, who had no prior violence on his long criminal history, was now “genuinely remorseful”.
He had a long history of meth and cocaine abuse and suffered complex PTSD stemming from horrific childhood events, the court heard
Mr Edwards said matters interrupted his rehabilitation, including the closing of a rehab centre, and he had returned to drug use just when it looked like he was turning a corner.
Judge Ian Dearden said he couldn’t think of anything more terrifying than what confronted Ms Peters and her sister that morning.
He said the victims now had to live with lifelong fear generated by Rockwell’s despicable violence.
“The harm you’ve caused … is in many ways incalculable. But of course, I still have to impose a sentence that reflects each side … to balance all of those competing considerations,” he said.
Rockwell pleaded guilty to break and enter with stealing, burglary by breaking while in company and armed robbery with wounding.
After time already served of 821 days he was eligible to apply for parole from Friday with the current wait time about three months.
Outside court a devastated Ms Peters called on Attorney-General Deb Frecklington to appeal the sentence.
“I’m extremely disappointed. This man is dangerous,” she said.
“It’s been five years of hell, and I’ve tried to keep it together for five years to see justice, and justice isn’t going to come.”
Lyndy Atkinson from advocacy group Victims 1st said the sentence did not meet community expectations.
“Unfortunately it’s been proved to us again in Esther’s matter over the last month, that offenders come first and victims last, and that’s what we have been wanting to change. The victims are still waiting,” she said.
A spokeswoman for the AG said advice on the sentence had been sought from the DPPs office.
Originally published as Axe-wielding maniac Mark Lawrence Rockwell, 33, sentenced over brutal home invasion
