A WOMAN “sleeping rough” in Carrum overnight Sunday 5 March was bashed by a man who inflicted “considerable” facial injuries, police said.
The homeless woman, 39, was asleep on a park bench at the corner of Progress Avenue and Nepean Highway when the man woke her and asked for a cigarette. She said she didn’t have any and went back to sleep. Half an hour later the man returned and put his hand over the woman’s face. He then began to repeatedly punch her face and head without saying a word.
The woman tried to fight the man off and clung to a street pole, while the man continued punching her to the face and back of the head. Her blood could be seen on the pole next day.
A man living next door yelled out to “leave her alone” and the man ran off towards the beach.
The police dog squad were unable to track the offender. He is described as Caucasian, mid-30s, medium build, 177cm tall, wearing a dark-coloured hoodie and dark coloured pants.
The woman, who police said had been living on the streets for the past three months, was taken to Frankston Hospital.
Detective Senior Constable Wayne Billing, of Kingston CIU, has appealed for public help in identifying the woman’s attacker. He described the unprovoked assault as “particularly vicious”.
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 8 March 2017