Two 15-year-old boys placed on probation for violent home invasion of 66-year-old stroke victim

One teenager struck the man with a wooden table leg while the other punched him a number of times in the stroke victim’s own home.

Two teenagers responsible for a violent home invasion of a 66-year-old stroke victim have been each ordered to do probation with no convictions recorded against them.

The pair was each aged 15 at the time they and two other teens entered the unit of the victim at a Dalby retirement home on the night of July 21, 2021.

The man had earlier gone to bed but had left the door of his unit closed but unlocked so carers could enter the unit, the Children’s Court of Queensland at Toowoomba heard.

He woke to hear voices and see torch light in his unit and struggled to get out of bed to confront the intruders who he told to get out, Crown prosecutor Elizabeth Kelso told the court.

One of the teens was armed with the wooden leg of the table with which he struck the man firstly to the side of the face and then to the back of his head after he fell, she told the court.

The other teens punched the victim before they left leaving him injured on the floor and also stealing his mobile phone.

However, the group returned a short time later and demanded cash, car keys and the man’s mobile phone PIN, Ms Kelso said.

When he told the group that he didn’t have a car and refused to give them his PIN, some of the group stomped on the man as he lay on the floor before leaving.

The complainant was left in pain and with bruising to his face, head and ribs and spent 15 days in hospital, Ms Kelso told the court.

The two now 16-year-olds pleaded guilty to burglary, armed robbery in company and assault occasioning bodily harm while armed and in company arising from the incident.

One of the teens also pleaded guilty offences from a four-day crime spree leading up to the home invasion which included a string of burglaries and unlawful use of motor vehicles committed from Roma to Dalby to Toowoomba.

That boy had an extensive criminal history and had spent 180 days in pre-sentence detention.

He was sentenced to 360 days detention, to be released after 180 days served, and placed on two years probation with no convictions recorded.

The other boy, who had no previous criminal history, was sentenced to 12 months probation and 80 hours of community service with no convictions recorded.