Thursday, March 11, 2010

In Australia, two teens charged with vicious beating of Canadian wheelchair user

From AFP:


SYDNEY — Two Australian teenagers have been charged over a vicious attack on a disabled Canadian tourist who was knocked out of his wheelchair and battered with a metal bar, police said on March 11.

The two, aged 15 and 16, were both charged with grievous bodily harm and robbery armed with an offensive weapon following Tuesday's incident, which has made headlines in the victim's home country.

The 35-year-old man is in hospital with head injuries after the assault at a Sydney suburban train station, which was captured by security cameras.

The man, who does not want to be named, was punched in the face as he entered a lift, then stamped on and hit with a metal bar ripped off his wheelchair, reports said.

"It's a cowardly, horrendous, horrific thing that they've done," his girlfriend told local media earlier.

"It makes me sick to the stomach to think he came out here for me and he's ended up in a hospital, and to think that he could have died."

The younger teenager was due to appear at children's court later, while the other suspect was refused bail on Wednesday.