‘Mauled by an animal’: Son describes horror of grandmother bashed

GRAPHIC IMAGES: The son of a Toongabbie grandmother who was viciously bashed at her home in January 2017, has looked his mother’s attacker in the eye, telling him “You are nothing”, in an emotional statement in court.

Anita Christanga was ”viciously” bashed in her Toongabbie home by her neighbour in January 2017. Pictures: Supplied

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The son of a Toongabbie grandmother who was ‘viciously’ bashed by her teenage neighbour while sleeping in her own home has told a court she looked as though she had been “mauled by an animal”.

A man accused of the attack, 21, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted to brutally bashing Anita Christanga, 78, unconscious in her home in the early hours of January 25, 2017.

Mrs Christanga sustained horrific injuries, including bleeding on the brain, a broken jaw, nose, eye socket, fractured teeth and six cracked ribs.

She died four months after the attack, but it could not be proven her death was a direct result of the attack.

Anita Christanga is treated by paramedics at Seven Hills Plaza the morning after she was attacked in her Toongabbie home. Picture: Seven News

In a heartbreaking victim impact statement read in Parramatta District Court today, Mrs Christanga’s son, Samuel, fought back tears as he described the horror of witnessing his mother’s injuries.

“What I saw was horrific and it made my blood boil,” he said.

“A piece of her ear was missing.

“It appeared her face was mauled by an animal.

“What sort of person would do this to a defenceless, fragile, old lady?”

He spoke of how his mother, a much-loved grandmother and scripture teacher, was never the same “independent woman” after the violent assault.

“From here, my mother’s normal life spiralled down,” he said.

“My children were traumatised and didn’t want to see their grandmother till she was put back to normal.”

He said his mother regularly complained of pain in her face and feeling “sharp things” in her mouth, or her remaining broken teeth.

Anita Christanga sustained horrific injuries when she was attacked in her sleep at home in Toongabbie in January 2017. Picture: Supplied

The court heard Mrs Christanga had lived in Toongabbie for 35 years and made the difficult decision to return back to her “blood-splattered” home in the months following the attack.

“(Her home) was the only place she felt she would be safe in,” he said.

He spoke of how the area had changed over time as drugs, vandalism and anti-social behaviour crept into her neighbourhood, and how his mother had “fortified” her surrounding fences with spikes and barbed wire.

Ending his statement, Mr Christanga pointed furiously at the accused as he sat expressionless in the dock.

“You did this. You viciously assaulted a fragile, old lady while she was sleeping in her own house. You are nothing,” he said.

The accused, who was 18 years old at the time of the attack, had lived nearby Mrs Christanga.

He faces two counts of causing grievous bodily harm and committing a serious indictable offence.

Samuel Christanga, son of Anita, spoke of his grief in Parramatta District Court today. Pictured here at Penrith Courthouse at an earlier court appearance. Picture: Seven News

At a sentencing hearing, Judge Sean Grant ordered that the accused’s name be suppressed in the interim due to concerns for his safety while in custody.

The court heard the accused had been bashed in prison and had to be hospitalised.

Police facts state Mrs Christanga was sleeping in her upstairs bedroom when she was “violently assaulted” by an unknown attacker.

When she regained conscious nine hours later, she found her handbag had been ransacked and her phone and ATM card were missing.

Concerned that someone was fraudulently using her bank card, Mrs Christanga drove to the bank at Seven Hills Plaza to report her phone had been stolen.

The Toongabbie street where Anita Christanga had lived for 45 years until the January 2017 attack.

Staff were horrified when they saw her injuries and immediately called police.

She was taken to Westmead Hospital for treatment.

She died four months later on Mother’s Day 2017, however, a coronial inquest found her death was not due to the attack.

The accused is expected to be sentenced later this month.

Originally published as ‘Mauled by an animal’: Son describes horror of grandmother bashed