THE mother of a victim of a violent armed robbery in North Bendigo believes she has “lost her son and best friend” as he struggles to come to terms with the incident.
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The teenager was attacked with a golf club during the robbery, which resulted in the theft of a Volkswagen Passat.
Brenton Mathews, 18, pleaded guilty in the Bendigo County Court on Friday to unlawful assault, armed robbery, theft and driving at a dangerous speed.
His co-accused Ben Costello, 27, plans to fight his charges for his alleged role in the incident on September 24 last year.
The court heard Mathews drove to the house on Redan Street in a hire car just before midday, where he met with Costello.
Three men – two aged 19, one aged 18 – arrived in a Volkswagen Passat with “the intention of purchasing a stick of cannabis”.
When one man went inside the house, Costello allegedly emerged armed with a tree branch and proceeded to attack the door of the car, removing the keys and threatening the car’s occupants. He then allegedly punched and kicked the driver repeatedly.
Mathews picked up a golf club and approached the driver’s door, before smashing the window. Broken glass covered the driver, the court heard.
Mathews then struck the driver, aged 19, to the face with the golf club. The three victims fled the scene and Mathews got in the driver’s seat of the Volkswagen, telling his girlfriend to follow them in the hire car while Costello entered the passenger’s seat.
They stripped the Volkswagen of a number of items before driving to BP Epsom where Mathews stole $51 worth of diesel.
He drove the car to Melbourne, reaching speeds of between 160 and 180 kilometres per hour on the Calder Freeway.
The hire car was intercepted at Carlsruhe and the driver was arrested. Mathews returned to Bendigo the next day and surrendered himself at Bendigo police station, where he admitted to all of the offending.
He has been in custody for 131 days.
Three victim impact statements were tendered to the court, including one from the mother of the driver of the Volkswagen.
She told the court she was “heartbroken” to see the change in her son after the attack.
“I didn’t just lost my car, I have also lost my son and best friend,” she wrote.
“The pain of the events is very real.”
The court heard Mathews was a regular ice user and had been effectively homeless since the age of 14, and his time in custody had provided the most stability in his life in years.
Judge Irene Lawson ordered a community corrections assessment, and a youth justice assessment before sentencing.
Mathews will next appear in the Melbourne County Court on March 20. Co-accused Costello will contest his charges in the Bendigo Magistrates’ Court on June 13.