Australian bludgeons 77-yr-old after failed rape attempt; gets 10 yrs in jail

Sydney: A mentally imbalanced methamphetamine addict, Christopher Coombs, 40, sexually assaulted and bashed in the skull of a 77-year-old woman with a hammer, and it is likely that he would be out of prison in less than 10 years.

Coombs broke in to her house around 3:30 am, on July 6, 2015, through the door that was kept ajar for the lady's cat. He knew the victim through a single conversation that they had eight months prior to the incident.

Initially, he had tried to rape her, but when she resisted he performed sexually depraved acts on her. Afterwards, he put a tie around her neck, forced her on the floor and repeatedly bashed her head in with a hammer. She was found in a pool of blood, with severe damages to her face and skull, by her neighbours.

Coombs was sentenced to jail for 14 years for unrelated assault and larceny. However, he would be eligible for parole in nine years and 4 months, for an attack which left the lady hoping she was dead.

Speaking to a local newspaper, Illawarra Mercury, the lady's son said,"She's going to be in and out of hospital for the rest of her life. She has said, 'It probably would have been better if I'd died.'"

He also said that her survival is in fact a miracle, while he stood outside the Parramatta District Court on Thursday.

The attack on his mother will have devastating effect on her life and he said, the sentence given to Coombs was barely enough.

"She was a lovely lady and now she's a shell. I'll put a tea cup down and she'll jump. She's been robbed of her life," he said.

The sentence was passed keeping in mind the intent which was to rehabilitate the convict and not destroy any chances of the same with a harsher term, Judge Penelope Wass remarked.

Coombs' psychological analysis reveals the history of his drug use, depression, narcissistic personality and bi-polar disorder.

The court was informed that Coombs was off his medicine and too inebriated at the time, to remember the attack.

Pleading guilty to the charges brought against him, Coombs managed to reduce 25% of his sentence, convincing the judge of his contrition and that, he still has a chance in rehabilitation. The Judge also accepted that after his own skull was broken in 2009, Coombs developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) which prompted him to carry the hammer for protection against "real and imagined enemies".

"How can [the court] accept [Coombs] carried a hammer to protect himself? How can that be OK? It's not as if it's a random attack. He knew there was a vulnerable old lady in there," the victim's son said.

Christopher Coombs was initially charged with attempted murder, but the charges were dropped in plea bargain.