Teen sentenced for 'vicious' attack on woman sleeping rough

In short:

An Adelaide teenager has been sentenced for attacking a woman who was sleeping rough near a public library in 2025.

The sentencing magistrate said the attack was "sustained and vicious".

What's next?

The teenager will remain in detention until March and will spend a year under supervision after his release.

A teenager who subjected a woman sleeping rough in Adelaide's inner south to a "repeated, persistent and forceful" nine-minute attack will be released from detention early next year.

The now-18-year-old was today sentenced in the Adelaide Youth Court over an attack on a 64-year-old woman near the Mitcham Memorial Library, on Belair Road at Hawthorn, on November 13, 2025.

The teenager, who cannot be identified, has already spent a year in detention.

He previously pleaded guilty to causing harm with intent, and to a charge of serious criminal trespass for a series of break-ins after the attack.

In an almost hour-long hearing on Friday, Magistrate John Wells said the then-17-year-old's "violent offence" against the "vulnerable" woman was "unambiguously serious".

"The youth attacked a homeless woman … in a sustained and vicious manner," he said.

"The violence was repeated, persistent and forceful."

Magistrate Wells said the teenager also recorded portions of the attack, and had made comments to the woman that were "aggressive" and "callous".

"The offending was brutal, random and unprovoked … the violence was prolonged."

He said the victim suffered several injuries including broken ribs, a fractured eye socket, a scalp haematoma and a fractured jaw.

The court previously heard the teenager had a "cocktail of substances" in his system at the time of the offending and was in a state of "dysregulation" at the time of the offending.

It had also heard the youth had since been diagnosed with alcohol use disorder, autism and severe ADHD.

Magistrate Wells sentenced the teenager to a further four months in detention, and ordered he be under supervision for one year following his release in March next year.

He said the teenager would be ordered to spend three months and 16 days in detention if he re-offended during his supervision period.

The teenager's mother and a support person were present at the hearing but declined to comment to the media as they exited the court building.