Shelly Freeman knew the elderly man whose Fingal home she broke into with two armed women, Supreme Court hears

The elderly victim of a home invasion has told a court the attack left him fearful of living alone and “it made it worse that someone I know would come and do this to me”.

Shelly May Freeman, 30, will be sentenced in the Supreme Court in Launceston next week.

AN elderly home invasion victim was horrified to learn one of the three masked women who stormed his property and demanded money used to visit his shop when she was younger.

Shelly May Freeman, 30, will become the second person sentenced over the attack next week, after being remanded in custody after a plea hearing at the Supreme Court in Launceston on Wednesday.

The court heard Freeman and two other women drove from her Rocherlea home to the small North-East town of Fingal in the early hours of March 25, where they broke into the home of a 76-year-old man and demanded cash.

Crown prosecutor Luke Brett said Freeman’s co-accused were armed with a baseball bat and a hammer, while Freeman did not enter the home with a weapon but told the man she had a gun.

The court heard Freeman did not enter the man’s bedroom as the other two women struck him with the weapons, but helped them as they tied him up.

Freeman’s mother lived across the road from the man, and the court heard Freeman knew the victim from when she also lived in the town.

The elderly victim sustained lacerations and broken teeth in the attack.

Freeman pleaded guilty to aggravated armed robbery, two counts of aggravated burglary and stealing.

In a victim impact statement read by Mr Brett, the man said he remembered Freeman as a customer and that “it made it worse that someone I know would come and do this to me”.

“I even used to put things up when she couldn’t pay,” he said.

He said the home invasion left him fearful of living alone and with considerable medical bills to play.

Freeman’s lawyer Lucy Flanagan said her client turned herself in to police a day after the attack after her telling her brother – who observed her having strangely – about the robbery.

Ms Flanagan said Freeman had been a victim of domestic violence and had used her time on bail to make arrangements for the care of her children, knowing she would be jailed.

The court heard Freeman’s mother has since moved away from Fingal because of the ramifications of the armed robbery.

Justice Robert Pearce remanded Freeman until Thursday next week for sentencing.

Co-accused Rose-Lee Clarke, 24, of East Devonport, was last week sentenced to three years’ jail with a non-parole period of 18 months.

A third woman charged over the attack has pleaded not guilty and remains before the court.