Man pleads guilty to ‘sustained, savage attack’ in Shepparton

By Anna McGuinness

Feb 9, 2023

Plea: A man pleaded guilty to causing serious injury recklessly during a hearing at Shepparton County Court on February 8. Photo by AAP Photo

A man was found lying face down in a pool of blood after a “sustained, savage attack” by another man inside a Poplar Ave, Shepparton unit, a court has heard.

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A witness said they thought the victim was dead when they found him in the unit’s laundry, about 7pm on February 22, 2020.

Justin Thomas Webb, 46, pleaded guilty to causing serious injury recklessly at Shepparton County Court on Wednesday, February 8.

Prosecutor David Cordy told the court witnesses heard yelling and commotion coming from Webb’s Poplar Ave home on the night, and a woman saw him running in and out of his unit splattered in blood.

Webb told the woman, and later police, that he had woken up and found his friend in a pool of blood, Mr Cordy said.

The court heard Webb later told his neighbour he had “tried to cook the fella’s head with a sandwich press”.

Barrister Jonathan Barrera told the court Webb and the victim had taken speed and ice, and claimed Webb had “flipped out” when the victim tried to grab Webb’s genitals.

“It’s unclear exactly how Mr Webb committed the offence but it’s conceded from the medical evidence that the injuries must have been caused by blunt force trauma and a sharp object,” Mr Barrera said.

When police went back to the house the next day, they found bloodstained clothes and household objects, including knives, and the house in a “dishevelled state”.

Mr Cordy said the victim was hypothermic and deeply unconscious when he was flown to the Royal Melbourne Hospital and had multiple surgeries, during which part of his skull was removed.

He referenced Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine Dr Maaike Moller’s opinion that the victim very likely would have died if not for timely medical intervention.

Mr Barrera told the court Webb had been released from custody in 2018, had been in and out of homelessness, and his Shepparton unit had been provided through a charity a month before the offending.

He said Webb had a long history of significant alcohol and substance use since he was 11 or 12, and had cognitive challenges.

There was clear evidence Webb was unwell in the lead-up to the offending, Mr Barrera said, having been admitted to hospital for mental health issues.

The maximum penalty for causing serious injury recklessly is 15 years’ jail.

Webb was remanded in custody to be sentenced on a later date.