Dylan Robertson pleads guilty to savage bashing, bringing knife to hospital

A lawyer has asked a court not to give up on his client, after the man pleaded guilty to savagely bashing his own mother and bringing a knife to a hospital emergency department.

Dylan Robertson appeared in the Geelong Magistrates Court on Tuesday Picture: Facebook

An ice-addict who bashed his own mother also brought a knife to a hospital emergency department, a court has heard.

Dylan Robertson, 33, appeared via videolink in Geelong Magistrates Court on Tuesday and pleaded guilty to multiple charges including unlawful assault, intentionally causing injury, drug possession and possessing a dangerous article.

Police prosecutor Senior Constable Laura Wood told the court Robertson was acting suspiciously when he went to Geelong hospital in October last year, before he put a knife he had concealed on his body into a bin.

When confronted by a security guard, Robertson began to “shape up” for a fight, as the guard tried to get him to leave.

Robertson refused, swearing loudly and demanding to have his knife back before he was tackled to the ground and later arrested.

During the incident, nurses were forced to move nearby patients, including mothers, children and the elderly, to other areas of the hospital, the court heard.

A search of Robertson later revealed he also had scissors on him; Robertson told police he had the knife and scissors “just in case something went down”.

On December 18, Robertson was staying at his mother’s house when an argument broke out around his drug use.

Robertson became enraged during the altercation, punching her 20 times in the head and face, the court heard, and stomped on her head “more than once”.

Following the savage attack, the woman was left with cuts, swelling and bruising.

Robertson also pleaded guilty to stealing from a Kilgour St grocery store hours before assaulting his mother and being found with prescription medication Seroquel.

Robertson’s lawyer, barrister Jack Kelly, told the court it was clear his client was a “high risk” individual, and his use of ice was the driving factor behind his offending.

The court heard a number of residential rehabilitation facilities had found Robertson unsuitable but Mr Kelly implored the court not to give up on his client.

“Now is the time for real effort to deal with his issues,” he said.

The court heard that Robertson had been placed on five CCOs since 2018, but Mr Kelly said there was an opportunity to “recalibrate” the supports needed.

The court heard a cycle of “remand, release, remand, release” only exacerbated Robertson’s situation.

Sen-Constable Wood told the court one of the incidents was a “serious example” of family violence, while another was “completely unacceptable behaviour in the community, let alone the emergency department in the hospital”.

“Nurses and doctors who work in the emergency department already have a stressful enough job,” Senior Constable Wood said.

Magistrate Simon Guthrie told Robertson he was “putting everybody else at risk”.

“The scales are tipping against a further CCO … (but) I am always open to in-house or residential rehabilitation,” he said.

The matter was adjourned until October 17 for further assessments to be made.

Originally published as Dylan Robertson pleads guilty to savage bashing, bringing knife to hospital