Anthony Larmah, 25, jailed for meat cleaver attack on Belmont mum
A man who bashed and slashed a mother’s skull with a knife and threatened to kill her son was found with Friedrich Nietzsche’s “Beyond Good and Evil” after his arrest.
A man who slashed and bashed a mother’s head in with a meat cleaver and threatened to kill her son was found with a philosophical book titled “Beyond Good and Evil” after the attack, a court has heard.
Anthony Larmah, 25, appeared in Melbourne County Court on Wednesday where he was jailed for a brutal assault in Geelong described by a judge as “frightening.”
He pleaded guilty to intentionally causing serious injury in circumstances of gross violence, attempted aggravated burglary, arson and assaulting an emergency worker in relation to the violent ordeal at a Belmont home, on July 20, 2023.
The court heard Larmah attended the home of the victim, who is the mother of an acquaintance, wearing a black mask and carrying a knife.
He had attended the same house in the days prior, on one occasion wearing a balaclava and armed with a machete.
Upon his arrival on July 20, the mother armed herself with a rolling pin before she was attacked.
Larmah struck the woman in the head on a number of occasions with a meat cleaver, resulting in skull fractures and cuts to her scalp, face and hands.
The court heard she was on the ground and “cowering in fear” as he inflicted the wounds. The blows were so severe that parts of the cleaver were later found inside her head.
During the ordeal, the victim pleaded “what do you want” to which he replied “to kill your son”, the court heard.
She then tricked the offender to release her before managing to slam a door in his face.
The woman then ran and yelled for her children to “hide under the bed” before they escaped through the laundry, and by jumping a back fence.
Larmah fled the scene on a bicycle and was arrested a short time later.
Among his possessions was a knife and a book authored by German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, titled “Beyond Good and Evil”, the court heard.
His victim suffered a fractured skull and nine cuts to the scalp and later described the event as “the worst day of my life.”
Larmah was originally charged with attempted murder before the charge was dropped, the court heard.
The buccal nerve in the woman’s cheek, used for chewing, was severed in three places.
The accused, who also set fire to a bed, suffered from schizophrenia and was in a psychotic state during the attack.
The court heard he had a tough upbringing and was raised in Geelong after immigrating to Australia.
He had an extensive history of violence, including a serious stabbing of a friend inside a Geelong share house in 2023, the court was told.
A forensic psychiatrist found he had developed a psychotic illness since 2019, also claiming he could have a mental impairment defence.
However, he pleaded guilty to all charges.
In handing down his sentence, Judge Gerard Mullaly acknowledged it was a complex case given the offender’s serious mental health conditions.
He said striking the mother with the weapon while she was “cowering in fear” was “dreadful conduct”, also describing the offending as “serious and frightening”.
“The terror you created was substantial,” he said.
Judge Mullaly handed him a total effective sentence of six years and eight months behind
bars, with a minimum term of four years.
Larmah has already spent 683 days in prison since his arrest, which will act as time served.
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Originally published as Anthony Larmah, 25, jailed for meat cleaver attack on Belmont mum
