Assault victim Maddy Broom, 22 / Pic: Kristi Miller Source: The Daily Telegraph
Joshua Thain, the man who attacked Maddie Broom / Pic: Facebook Source: The Daily Telegraph
Maddie after her injuries in May 2012. Source: The Daily Telegraph
ASSAULT victim Maddie Broom feels she has been beaten up all over again, this time by the justice system.
The 22-year-old trainee nurse had her jaw smashed, teeth broken and her face cut and bruised after she went to help a friend being attacked at a pub in Windsor last year.
Her attacker, Joshua Thain, a convicted criminal with a violent record, was given suspended sentences for both attacks and placed on a good behaviour bond.
"I'm still having anxiety attacks to the point I'm getting counselling and he gets a suspended sentence and told to be a good boy after viciously attacking us," she said.
Thain was initially charged with two counts of recklessly causing grievous bodily harm, two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and affray. But by the time it reached court Thain pleaded guilty to two counts of the lesser charge of assault and was given suspended sentences of 15 and 12 months in Penrith Court on March 20.
"I feel I have been slapped in the face. I wanted to give the magistrate a letter to tell her how I felt but I wasn't allowed to and, because he pleaded guilty, I wasn't able to let the court know how badly I have been affected. I don't want sympathy, I want justice."
Maddie was with a group of friends at the Fitzroy Hotel at Windsor last May when she saw a friend, Blake Smith, 19, being attacked by Thain.
"I screamed Blake's name and ran down the ramp to give him some first aid."
Thain head-butted her and she can't remember much else after losing consciousness. Blake received facial bruising and chipped and broken teeth.
Thain was arrested three months later and spent about five weeks in jail before being given bail and pleading not guilty before changing his plea two weeks ago.
Maddie's mother Terese is furious: "He knows how the system works and used it. Why, when he pleads guilty, does the victim not have a voice? She was an innocent bystander who went to help.
"She can't work full time, won't travel into the city with me anymore because of her anxiety. He gets off virtually scot-free. The magistrate said, although he had a history of violence, his pre-sentence report was good and she felt he should have another chance."
The pre-sentence report handed to magistrate Annette Sinclair said the 23-year-old old from Lethbridge Park had already been jailed for assault.
It also stated that he was considered unsuitable for a community service order because he had not attended orders in the past.
"Mr Thain became known to corrections in 2009 for a pre-sentence report in Mount Druitt Court. Convicted of a range of aggressive and violent offences the report identified issues of anger management and negative peer group involvement as factors likely to have influenced his offending behaviour," the report stated.
It said Thain had a troubled childhood and since January was receiving psychological counselling for mental health issues and was on medication.
Dianne Smith, the mother of Blake, was also in court although her son wasn't. She was absolutely staggered by the sentence: "After all was said and done, Thain was sentenced to 12 months for the assault on Blake and 15 months for the assault on Maddie.
"I was all right until I heard the words 'to be served as a suspended sentence'.
"I'll never forget her exact words to Thain: 'This is your last chance.'
"We were devastated. There should not have been a last chance. Isn't it time the magistrates, judges and politicians reflect what the community feel in the law of sentencing for such violence?"
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