A 23-year-old Canberra man is refused bail, citing his risk to the community, after he allegedly attacked a girl as she was riding her bike home from school.
Chilling details have emerged about an alleged attack on an 11-year-old Canberra girl, who was knocked off her bike and strangled until she was unconscious, on her way home from school yesterday.A 23-year-old man has been charged over the alleged random attack on the 11-year-old girl
Magistrate Beth Campbell said the alleged attack was random, terrifying and "abhorrent", amounting to "every parent's worst nightmare". The girl later told police that as she was riding along she became uncomfortable, after seeing a man ahead of her, staring at her.The girl told police she fought back, slapping and pushing the man, as he strangled her.The court heard a passer-by had become suspicious when he saw a man walking beside the track trying to hide in the trees.'I changed my jacket, I didn't touch her'
The court heard when the girl's father came looking for her in his car, he passed the alleged attacker, asking him if he had seen his daughter.But the court heard the girl pointed out the man as her father was driving her away from the park, although he was wearing a different jacket.The man is alleged to have said: "I changed my jacket, I didn't touch her".Later, the alleged offender was taken to hospital from the Chisolm shops, with a swollen eye.