Mullenjarly Pitt pleads guilty to wounding and attempting to rob homeless teenager in city’s CBD

The teenager with two mates attacked a homeless man who was stabbed on a Toowoomba CBD street. See what happened in court:

An 18-year-old Oakey man who pleaded guilty to stabbing and attempting to rob a homeless teenager in Toowoomba’s CBD has walked free from court.

Mullenjarly Pitt and two teenage mates approached the homeless 18-year-old who had been sleeping rough near the Neil St bus interchange about 7.15pm, February 16.

As the trio approached, Pitt said “What have you got?” and then told the teenager he had a knife, Toowoomba District Court was told.

The complainant threw a can at Pitt which struck him in the head and Pitt then scuffled with the teenager before stabbing him in the chest.

Crown prosecutor Emily Coley said the victim ran off as did his three assailants.

Mullenjarly Pitt leaves Toowoomba District Court on October 26, 2023, after being sentenced for stabbing a homeless teenager.

The victim was soon found and taken to Toowoomba Hospital where he had minor surgery to wash out the wound and have stitches inserted, the court was told.

The offending trio was identified on CitySafe cameras which picked up the three seemingly re-enacting the attack, the court heard.

Ms Coley said Pitt had made admissions to police and was refused bail, spending two weeks in custody before being granted Supreme Court bail.

The prosecution had no contact with the victim and so there was no victim impact statement but Ms Coley submitted the incident would have been “a very frightening experience” for a vulnerable person confronted by three people.

Ms Coley submitted a sentence of two and a half to three years in jail and that Pitt should serve actual jail time.

Pitt pleaded guilty to attempted armed robbery in company, unlawful wounding and possessing a knife in a public place.

Police cordon off Toowoomba’s CBD after the homeless man was stabbed in the chest on the evening of February 16, 2023.

His barrister Nathan Edridge told the court his client was only 18 and that there was no evidence of permanent injury to the victim psychologically or physically.

His client, who provided a letter of apology to the court, had overcome a difficult start to life to be in a position where he was finishing off an information technology course at TAFE with the prospect of work in that industry from next year.

The 14 days spent in custody was “significant” for an 18-year-old with no previous criminal history and he had complied with all bail conditions since his release, he said.

Judge Dennis Lynch KC described the attack on the vulnerable homeless man as “cowardly” and “gratuitous”.

Judge Dennis Lynch KC

“I accept that this was out of character but you should understand that it is not acceptable to engage in violence like this,” he told Pitt.

“To use a knife and attack someone is not acceptable to anyone in the community.

“You’re lucky because he wasn’t more seriously injured, if he had been, the consequences for you would have been more serious too.

“You’ve taken decent steps since this to show that you know this was the wrong thing to do and that you’re sorry.

“I’m prepared to accept that.

“And, because of your young age it seems to me that it’s not appropriate at this point to require you to go back into custody but that will happen if you misbehave in future.”

Judge Lynch sentenced Pitt to two years in jail but ordered the term be suspended after the 14 days he had spent in custody with the remainder to hang over his head for two years.