A BALLARAT man accused of being part of a group who used a metal pole to beat a young deaf man while robbing him, has been ordered to stand trial in the County Court.
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Michael Dawson, 21, appeared in Ballarat Magistrates Court on Wednesday where he pleaded not guilty to the alleged daylight attack in which the victim was left lying on a Wendouree Street with lacerations and bruises to his face.
Dawson is charged with armed robbery, while his two co-accused’s – who cannot be named for legal reasons – have already been sentenced after pleading guilty to robbery charges in a children’s court.
A Crown prosecutor, reading from an agreed summary, said Dawson and his co-accuseds had unsuccessfully tried to buy alcohol from the Premix King in Howitt Street, Wendouree, about 9pm on June 11 last year.
The court heard the victim, a deaf man, walked into the same liquor store about 9.30pm, leaving with a 10-pack of bourbon cans.
Walking along Lake Street towards his friend’s house in Wendouree, the victim was allegedly jumped by Dawson and his co-accuseds who had been watching him from a parked car.
Giving evidence during the committal hearing yesterday, the victim said he was struck several times with what looked like a metal bar before one of the accuseds crushed a drink can and hit him across the face with it.
Dawson and the co-accuseds then fled the scene, allegedly stealing the victim’s wallet and his bourbon.
Dawson’s defence barrister, Erin Ramsay, originally asked magistrate Cynthia Toose for a sentence indication before proceeding with the committal hearing when Ms Toose said Dawson was facing immediate jail time.
“I just see this charge as too serious to give him a suspended sentence,” Ms Toose said.
“It was quite predatory behaviour.”
Dawson was remanded in custody and will face a directions hearing in the County Court at Ballarat on May 22.