Man given hospital order after attempted murder on mother and daughter in Eltham
A man has been sentenced to a hospital order following an unprovoked attack on a mother and daughter in Eltham in August last year.
Joe Xuereb, 28, of Adderley Gardens, Eltham pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of an offensive weapon and was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order under sections 37/41 of the Mental Health Act.
The court heard that on August 19 2018, the victims – a woman aged 64 and her daughter aged 30 – were outside of a block of flats on Adderley Gardens just after midday when Xuereb approached them from behind.
Xuereb, armed with a hammer, repeatedly struck both victims over the head and face which left both victims unconscious.
Xuereb continued to strike them both in the head as they lay in the street before he fled the scene.
Both women were taken to hospital in a critical condition and remained in hospital for a number of weeks, they were left with life changing injuries.
On sentence, His Honour Judge Richard Marks said that if not for the presence of psychiatric illness, a life sentence would have been inevitable.
Detective sergeant Matt Deans, from the Homicide and Major Crime Command, said: “This was a brutal and unprovoked attack which both victims are incredibly lucky to have survived.
“This horrific incident has had a significant impact on both of their lives and we hope this conviction will bring them some kind of closure.”
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