Stow Gardens Geraldton robbery: Teenage attacker of pregnant woman in Ashfield avoids jail over new assault

A teenage girl who attacked a pregnant mother pushing a pram two years ago in Perth has avoided jail over another assault on a woman in Geraldton. It can be revealed the 17-year-old girl who unleashed a savage attack on a pregnant mother in the Perth suburb of Ashfield is the same teen who violently robbed a woman in her 30s sitting alone on a public bench near the Geraldton foreshore earlier this year. The then 15-year-old approached a mother pushing her two children in a pram from behind in September 2022 and grabbed her hair, pulling her to the ground as she tried to keep hold of the pram, which flipped over. She dragged the woman before fleeing with her keys. The girl was sentenced to 12 months in detention in Perth Children’s Court for a handful of robberies. She became eligible for release in February 2023. The horrifying attack, which shares eerily similar details to the Geraldton attack on February 10 this year, sent shockwaves throughout the State. The girl, who is now 17 years old, approached the woman sitting alone at a park bench in Stow Gardens after she had attended a Christian event and tried to steal her handbag. She grabbed hold of the victim’s lanyard, dragging her with it until she fell to the ground, punching and kicking her. The woman previously said she had used Siri on her iPhone to call for help during the attack. After 101 days remanded in custody, the 17-year-old narrowly avoided a second term of detention during her sentencing in the Geraldton Children’s Court on May 21. “This might be a final opportunity for (her) given her age. This is a junction for her turning point,” magistrate Matthew Walton said. However, Mr Walton, after watching CCTV footage of the attack, called the girl’s actions “thuggish, violent” and “disgusting”. She received a suspended sentence with a five-month juvenile conditional release order. The court had been told the teenager had an unstable upbringing and had been using cannabis since she was 10. The Geraldton victim spoke out following her attacker’s sentencing last week. The woman in her 30s said she lost 8kg after the attack and would be sick when she thought about it for too long. “I was 49kg and after the attack I weighed 41kg,” she said. “I woke up with nightmares every night for the first two, three weeks. I was crying almost every day. “I wanted to shut my shop down and move away from Geraldton from fear they would come back and hurt me again.” The woman said she was reminded of the ordeal with regular pain on one side of her head and a damaged jaw. The victim said she found it difficult to face the public on her own and even driving alone and morning walks along the foreshore would trigger a sense of fear. “I’m still scared. Normally I could buy KFC and go and sit at Stow Gardens and watch the sunset. I have not done it for a long time. Now I sit in the car and eat, I don’t get out on my own,” she said. “I don’t take my daughter to the park any more, I’m too scared.” The victim believed the penalty handed out last week was not harsh enough and was a small punishment compared to the damage that was done. “That might be a lot for a teenager, but for me that is not enough for someone who assaults someone when they are doing nothing,” she said. “In my country, the teenager, none of them will disrespect. Rarely will we see any disrespect to adults. Anyone doing any crime like that they will go to prison. “They will get sent to children prison and work to earn to pay for the damage. They are responsible for their own mistake.”