Geraldton boy, 14, sentenced after admitting to 28 charges, including assaulting brain-injured homeless man

A Geraldton teenager has narrowly avoided a stint behind bars after pleading guilty to 28 charges over what a magistrate slammed as “gutless” and “degrading” behaviour, including assaulting a brain-injured homeless man. The 14-year-old boy appeared via videolink from Banksia Hill Juvenile Detention Centre on Tuesday afternoon after he was remanded in custody in April for a robbery at Arcadia Waters retirement village. The court was told the boy jumped the fence of the Wandina retirement village on April 13 between 3.20am and 3.40am and broke into a car, stealing a pocket knife before running away. On March 22, the teen approached a house in Karloo with clothing wrapped around his face and entered through the rear of the property using a sliding door and found a pair of car keys. The boy entered the vehicle with others, reversed the car and left while recording the incident on his phone using the social media app Snapchat. A victim impact statement from the Karloo resident was read in court. “I cry multiple times a day. Our privacy has been completely violated and those feelings I can’t describe. I no longer have a brand new car. I have no means of getting my children to and from school,” the victim said. On September 12 last year, the teenager went to an address on Chapman Road in Geraldton where multiple people are known to sleep rough. Police prosecutor Sgt Paul White told the court the teenager “taunted a 45-year-old homeless male with a brain injury who is non-verbal. The (teen) pushed the victim over as he tried to escape”. The teen approached another man at the same location and demanded he hand over his watch and necklace while recording on his phone. Sgt White said the victim pleaded for the teenager to not take his necklace, saying “it’s from my ex-wife”. The boy replied “f... your ex-wife” before punching the victim and taking the necklace. The teenager’s defence lawyer, George Giudice, said his client had now spent 21 days in custody and was ready to come home and was excited to see his mother. “When he gets out he wants to stay at home because he gets treated well,” Mr Giudice said before confirming the teenager did not abuse substances and would like to keep out of trouble in the future. Magistrate Matthew Walton described the boy’s actions as “degrading, humiliating, thuggish behaviour” which warranted “the most serious condemnation”. “It was gutless behaviour,” he said. Mr Walton said there had been a significant increase in the teenager’s offending since 2023 but he had the ability to be a well-behaved young man. Mr Giudice said the teenager did not attend school, nor did he want to, but would like to get a job. The magistrate condemned the boy’s school attendance rate of 17 per cent. “It’s 2024; we live in a modern liberal democracy in an advanced nation. It needs to be called out, it needs to be noted and it cannot just be ignored,” Mr Walton said. “How can a child thrive without the guard rails and the developmental opportunities that education provides?” The teenager pleaded guilty to 28 charges including aggravated robbery, assault occasioning bodily harm and steal motor vehicle. The teenager was issued a five-month suspended detention sentence, which is being served concurrently with a six-month intensive youth supervision order. Mr Walton warned the teenager to “think very carefully about your actions over the next five months”.