Teen dragged woman off the street and into the long grass where he tried to rape her, court hears

A teenager who hid by the side of a street before leaping from the long grass and trying to rape a passer-by while on bail for breaking his girlfriend’s arm will spend 16 months in Don Dale.

A TEENAGER who hid by the side of a Palmerston street before leaping from the long grass and trying to rape a passer-by while on bail for breaking his girlfriend’s arm will spend 16 months in Don Dale.

The then 15-year-old, who cannot be named, pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court to causing serious harm and attempted rape following the two incidents in December 2019 and January last year.

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The court heard the boy was on bail for assaulting his girlfriend when he breached his conditions by travelling to Palmerston by bus and taking a scooter to Temple Tce where he “hid and lay in wait to prey on a young woman who was walking (by)”.

As the woman walked past, the boy jumped out and grabbed her by the hair, dragged her back into the grass and forced her onto her back on the ground.

She screamed and yelled for help as the boy removed her shorts and underwear and he punched her repeatedly in the head before nearby residents heard her cries and intervened while the boy fled.

In setting a head sentence of three years’ detention, suspended after 16 months, Justice Sonia Brownhill said the boy had been diagnosed with foetal alcohol spectrum disorder and had been sniffing volatile substances since the age of 10.

“As well as considering (the boy’s) lack of any relevant criminal history and his FASD-related cognitive deficits and the primary emphasis to be given to his rehabilitation and his development as a law-abiding citizen, I have to impose a penalty here which shows the community’s disapproval for his conduct and sends a message to others that they cannot commit crimes of this kind,” she said.

“The things he said about the offending (in Palmerston) do indicate that he is beginning to understand the seriousness of what he did and is worried about why he might have done it.

“The (presentence) report concludes that he understands the offending was wrong but could

not really understand the full effects of his offending on the victims or the community.”

After spending 16 months in Don Dale, the boy will be under the supervision of community corrections for another year and eight months.

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