Teen robber pleads guilty to bashing paraplegic in his own home

A teenage boy who violently assaulted a 67-year-old paraplegic and stole his car after breaking into his home last year has pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery.

• Wheelchair-bound man knocked from his chair, robbed by youths tells of his ordeal

A TEENAGE boy who violently assaulted a 67-year-old paraplegic and stole his car after breaking into his home in the dead of night last year has pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery.

The then 14-year-old, who cannot be named, also pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court on Monday to property damage and unlawful use of a motor vehicle.

Crown prosecutor Michaela Malone said Jimmy Marshall was asleep in bed when the boy and his three co-offenders crept into the yard of his Malak home at about 2am on November 4.

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Mr Marshall was woken by his small dog and got up and into his wheelchair and seeing the group through the window shouted “Leave me alone, I’m a 67-year-old man”.

“He slammed the security screen door but forgot to lock it and then closed the glass door after and locked it,” Ms Malone said.

“The victim then saw both the offender and co-offender through his front sliding glass door hiding behind a tree.

“The victim watched as the offender, still holding a torch, walked up to the door and shone the torch through it.”

Jimmy Marshall was robbed by a group of youths who broke into his Malak home in November last year. Picture: GLENN CAMPBELL

Ms Malone said Mr Marshall continued to watch on helplessly as the boy picked up a rock and smashed the glass door and kicked it in before entering the unit.

“While this was happening, the victim was shouting at the offender to leave and to get out and go away,” she said.

“The victim could not leave the house or protect himself due to his infirmity.”

The boy then walked up to Mr Marshall and punched him in the head with enough force to knock him out of his wheelchair before the other offenders began laying into him on the ground while demanding car keys and money.

While the others continued to kick and stomp on Mr Marshall, the boy found his car keys and they all drove off in his car, taking his mobile phone with them and leaving him helpless on the ground.

Mr Marshall managed to crawl outside and down the driveway while “screaming for help” and a neighbour called police and paramedics who took him to hospital with cuts and “significant bruising”.

Ms Malone said the robbers’ joy ride caused enough damage to Mr Marshall’s specially adapted vehicle to render it inoperable and police later found the boy’s palm print and blood at the scene and arrested him but the other three offenders were never caught.

In calling for a term of imprisonment, Ms Malone said the boy must have known how vulnerable his victim was when he set upon him.

“In terms of the community’s expectation, it is expected that residents can be in their house at any time, safely — but particularly at night time when people are particularly vulnerable as they sleep,” she said.

Defence lawyer Tashi Klose tendered a letter of apology she said her client had written off his own bat and successfully applied for an adjournment to obtain psychological and presentence reports.

“Change doesn’t happen overnight and change is something that needs to be supported by professionals for, sometimes, quite a long period of time,” she said.

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