By ANEEKA SIMONIS
A FORMER Kooweerup man with intellectual disabilities was one of three assailants sentenced over a brutal, unprovoked attack on a shopping centre security guard.
Vladimir Radu, 20, along with accomplices Danny Marroquin, 22, and Drazen Susa, 19, pleaded guilty to one charge of intentionally causing injury and one charge of robbery over the repeated beating of a security guard on night shift in December 2013.
Radu also pleaded guilty to one charge of possessing a prohibited weapon – a samurai sword found at his home in the lead-up to his arrest days after the assault.
Radu appeared in the County Court earlier this year.
About 4.30am on 8 December in 2013, the men, driven by Radu, ordered food at a fast-food outlet before parking at the nearby shopping centre car park where the security officer was working.
The court heard Radu, who was under the influence of drugs and alcohol, got out of the car, took his top off and asked the guard: “Security, do you want to call the cops on us?“ before beginning to punch him.
The other two men then got out of the car, chasing the guard down before continually punching and kicking him in what was described as an “extremely nasty attack” by Judge Elizabeth Gaynor.
CCTV footage which captured the attack showed Radu stomping the guard 18 times, punching him 27 times and kicking him about four times during the 77-second assault.
The attack left the guard lying on the ground in a foetal position, in a semi-conscious state.
The men then took the guard’s mobile phone, wallet and security ID from his pockets before driving from the scene.
These items were seized at Radu’s house days after the assault.
The guard was left bleeding and bruised with a fractured arm and requiring treatment for possible brain injuries.
Radu, a former gang member of The Bloods, lived as his mother’s paid carer in Kooweerup for some time before relocating to Dandenong, the court heard.
Judge Gaynor said the then 19-year-old, described as intellectually disabled, acted in an “uncharacteristically violent way” during the three-on-one attack due to a “paranoid suspicion” fuelled by illicit substances in his system at the time.
When sentencing Radu, Judge Gaynor acknowledged the man had made “excellent progress” in overcoming the problems which contributed to his offending including substance abuse, mental and emotional problems.
He was sentenced to a 20-month community corrections order, to undertake 150 hours of unpaid community work as well as following a ‘justice plan’ involving Intellectual Disability Services.
Marroquin and Susa were both sentenced to a 20-month community corrections order and 150 hours of unpaid community work.
The court did not reveal the location of the attack.
