A teenager accused of attempting to hack off a man’s hand in a sickening machete attack has been given the ‘best wishes’ of one of Australia’s most famous judges.
Saurabh Anand, 33, was allegedly set upon by five teenagers in the unprovoked attack in Altona Meadows, in Melbourne’s west, in July in an attack that shocked the nation.
On Thursday, one of those alleged offenders was released from youth detention on bail by the same judge who presided over the epic trial of mushroom killer Erin Patterson.
As he released the 14-year-old back into the community, Justice Christopher Beale wished the boy ‘good luck’.
‘Protecting the community has been uppermost in my mind. But rehabilitation serves that public interest,’ he said.
‘I wish you the best of luck.’
Police allege the teen was the main attacker and slashed Mr Anand in an unprovoked attack over cigarettes and a phone, The Age reported.
As well as almost losing his hand and arm, Mr Anand was allegedly slashed and stabbed in the shoulder and back, and suffered a fractured spine, broken bones in his arm, and head injuries.
Saurabh Anand, 33, sustained horrific injuries in what has been described as an unprovoked attack
Doctors initially thought they would have to amputate his left hand, but surgeons were able to reattach it by inserting screws into his wrist and hand during five hours of emergency surgery.
‘I am completely broken, mentally, physically and emotionally,’ he said at the time.
‘I don’t know how I’ll survive. I am in constant pain. It is the toughest time in my life – I wouldn’t have wished this on my worst enemy.’
Mr Anand was talking on his phone at Central Square Shopping Centre after picking up medication when the gang of youths allegedly pounced around 7.30pm on July 19.
He said he had spotted five teenagers sitting on a bench near a cafe outside the shopping centre, but was quickly surrounded as he came out of the pharmacy.
One teenager allegedly demanded his phone before another allegedly punched him repeatedly in the head until he fell, breaking his back as he hit the ground.
The gang then allegedly began punching and kicking him as he lay on the ground before a third teen then allegedly pulled out a machete and held it to his throat.
‘He [allegedly] went for my neck, my throat,’ he revealed on his release from hospital after eight days of surgery and treatment.
Saurabh Anand’s hand after allegedly being attacked by a machete-wielding thug
‘To save myself, I raised my hand up to protect my throat and my arm [allegedly] got completely sliced off – the machete cut all of the muscle, the tendons, the nerves.
‘But if the machete had gone through my neck, I would not be here today.’
Mr Anand said he feared he would die in the alleged attack.
The teen was charged with offences including armed robbery, intentionally causing serious injury, affray and using a controlled weapon.
But in one of the first tests of Victoria’s new bail changes, the teenager was released after taking his bid for freedom to the Supreme Court of Victoria when his first bid in August was rejected by a lower court.
Justice Beale said the community would be safer if the teen rehabilitated rather than be kept behind bars.
He made the decision despite hearing allegations about the teenager’s behaviour while on remand in a youth detention facility.
The court heard the boy had allegedly repeatedly attacked staff at the centre, both physically and verbally, made sexually inappropriate remarks to female workers, threatened to pour boiling water over others and had to be forcibly restrained to facilitate time out.
Central Square shopping centre at Altona Meadows became the location of a brutal attack
Saurabh Anand was lucky to have survived his ordeal at a local shopping centre in July
A custody manager told the court the boy had experienced difficulties adjusting to new people and changes in detention since his arrest.
The manager claimed the boy had repeatedly threatened and assaulted staff, hidden weapons in his room, absconded from classes, spat on staff and maintained he was gang affiliated.
Police had strongly opposed the youth being released back into the community, telling Justice Beale that Mr Anand still feared for his life.
After Thursday’s hearing, Mr Anand told The Age he was shocked by the bail decision and now feared even more for his safety.
‘I cannot understand or accept this,’ he said.
‘This group of people [allegedly] nearly killed me and my life has been forever changed by that night. I will never be able to go back to the way I was before this attack.
‘To be rehabilitated, the first step is remorse or recognition from him that he has [allegedly] done something wrong. I don’t see any evidence of that yet.’
The boy had been supported in court by his grandparents, who vowed to watch him if he was released and ensure he returned to school.
Justice Christopher Beale during his sentence of Erin Patterson
His grandmother told the court her grandson was a ‘good boy’ who was always trying to fit in.
On the night of the attack, she said she thought he was sleeping over at a friend’s house.
In response, Justice Beale told the boy to behave himself on the outside.
‘Your grandparents, who love you very much and who you love, have been here every step of the way for you and it’s their support of you which makes it possible for me to release you on bail,’ Justice Beale said.
‘You owe it to them to do the right thing.
‘Stick to all the bail conditions I’m going to impose and if you do that it’ll make a world of difference with what happens in the children’s court.’
Justice Beale said his decision served the community’s ‘best interests’.
He added: ‘Protecting the community has been uppermost in my mind.
‘But rehabilitation serves that public interest.’
