Teen’s brutal jail attack

Female worker dragged across floor in bid to steal keys

A TEENAGER left a female prison worker in hospital after dragging her around a room during a failed attempt to steal her security keys.

The 15-year-old boy was in custody at Malmsbury Youth Justice Centre, following a high-speed chase around Geelong, when he launched the attack on February 28 this year.

A children’s court heard the boy was trying to steal keys attached to the woman’s belt when he dragged her from a couch and towards a door in an incident lasting several minutes.

Other staff eventually arrived to help the distressed victim, who was left with bruises across her body and taken to Castlemaine Hospital.

The teenager pleaded guilty yesterday to charges including attempted robbery and recklessly causing injury.

At the time of the incident, the boy was in custody after a wild police chase on Christmas Eve that started in Geelong before ending in a fiery crash in Melbourne’s east.

Prosecutor Siobhan Daly said the incident at Malmsbury took place about 2pm while the boy was in the company of a co-accused.

Moments before the attack, the other alleged offender asked the victim’s colleague to get him food, leaving the woman on her own with the inmates.

The teen then lunged at the youth justice worker, grabbing hold of her keys before dragging her around the room.

Sen-Constable Daly said the boy clearly overpowered the victim as he tried to pull her through a door leading to an outside common area.

The attack stopped when other staff arrived and helped the woman, while a security and emergency response team was also called to the scene.

The victim was in court yesterday as her attacker pleaded guilty to the charges.

Earlier this year, the teenager pleaded guilty to separate charges stemming from the high-speed chase on December 24.

The boy was the driver of a stolen BMW that sped along the wrong side of major Geelong roads, ran red lights and almost crashed into other motorists.

He tried to outrun police at 150km/h as he drove to Melbourne, eventually crashing the stolen car in Hawthorn after it caught fire in the Burnley Tunnel.

The boy, who remains in custody, is due to be sentenced on all charges when he returns to court on July 3.