Rockingham: 14yo was drunk when she bashed homeless woman, assaulted neighbours and struck cop, court told

The cold hard facts of street crime spree were disturbing enough: Strangers attacked, cars damaged, phones stolen and a homeless woman bashed, all in a period of a few weeks. But just as troubling as the mayhem in Rockingham was that the offender standing in court who admitted responsibility for it is a girl aged just 14. Eyeing the wayward youngster, Magistrate Andree Horrigan invited her to consider the big question left hanging in the court room. “’Why do I behave like that?’ is a question you should ask yourself,” Ms Horrigan said. The list of charges the teenager pleaded guilty to in Rockingham Children’s Court was lengthy. Three counts of common assault, three counts of criminal damage, one count of threat to gain, assault on a public officer and aggravated robbery. Prosecutor Scott Andrews told the court that the offending began on March 29, about 4pm, when the teen was seen stomping on the windscreens of three parked vehicles in a southern suburbs street. When confronted by the owners, she hit and kicked two of them. Police were called to the scene and as a female officer was attempting to restrain the teen, she kicked the officer’s legs and struck her face, ripping the officer’s mask off. The officer was left with a red mark on the side of her face. While waiting to learn her fate after that incident, the 14-year-old’s next crime came on May 10. She and an older friend were walking through the Read Street underpass, when she grabbed a man’s phone and ran towards Rockingham Shopping Centre. The victim ran after the two offenders and tried to retrieve his mobile phone but the teen demanded he hand over the password. When he refused, she punched him twice in the face. On the following day, the teenager and the same older friend were walking outside Rockingham Shopping Centre when they approached a homeless woman sleeping outside near a Commonwealth Bank ATM. The 14-year-old demanded the woman hand over her bank card and when she refused, the teenager and co-accused kicked and punched the victim in the head and body. Police later arrested them both. Lawyer Clare Rossi said the defendant has struggled with alcohol abuse and was heavily intoxicated at the time of the offences. “She had no control over what she was doing and had no explanation as to why she contributed to the offending,” Ms Rossi said. Magistrate Horrigan said the young girl should be seriously considering the reasoning behind her poor behaviour. “I hope that with intervention, you can make changes.” The 14-year-old was sentenced to a six-month intensive supervision order.