An African thug who bashed two strangers the day he was let out of a Victorian psych ward while out on bail for assault and robbery has been ordered to undergo a mental health assessment before he is sentenced.
Tafadzwa Mhindurwa, 23, on Tuesday pleaded guilty in Bendigo Magistrates Court to a raft of charges including intentionally causing injury, robbery and recklessly causing injury over the November 12, 2024 attacks.
Disturbing Victoria Police video shows Mhindurwa, who had been released from the Bendigo Health adult mental health ward earlier that day, sitting near his first victim and his wife on the 7.52pm V/Line train before launching into a sickening and prolonged assault.
An African thug brutally bashes a stranger on a train in Bendigo, Victoria.
He was released from a mental health ward that day, and was on bail.
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The court heard the Mhindurwa had earlier questioned the couple about whether they were Catholics and then asked the man if his “glasses were prescription”, Bendigo Advertiser reported.
He then punched the man multiple times in the face and head, causing bruising and heavy bleeding, while his wife looked on in horror and at times tried in vain to stop the attack.
The train CCTV then shows the Mhindurwa stealing an umbrella from the woman before storming through the train carriages.
The violent thug then got off the train at Kangaroo Flat station and ran to Camp Street where he started a conversation with his second victim before swinging the umbrella at him.
Mhindurwa then asked his victim for a selfie and punched him in the face, breaking his nose and causing it to bleed profusely.
A witness took a photo of the 23-year-old and chased him towards High Street, and when police caught up with him he was covered in the blood of his victims, both of whom needed hospital treatment.
Mhindurwa has been sentenced to six months’ jail for unlawful assault and attempted robbery on September 12, 2024, and was granted appeal bail on October 1 before being admitted to the mental health ward on October 23.
Magistrate Trieu Huynh said on Tuesday he intended to jail Mhindurwa, who has been remanded in custody since the attacks, but ordered a psychiatric assessment and adjourned sentencing until August 14.
Mr Huynh said Mhindurwa was “clearly unwell” but a report was needed in order to determine whether there should be findings of mitigation on mental health grounds, The Bendigo News reported.
“This gentleman clearly needs ongoing supervision in the community moving forward because of those mental health issues … (that) need to be addressed properly,” he said.
The defence had argued Mhindurwa’s attack was “clearly an episode of paranoid schizophrenia”, but police prosecutors said the attacker had failed to comply with mental health treatment and abused meth and cannabis.
One of Mhindurwa’s victims said he suffered psychological trauma that “ran deep”, while the other said he now “lived in fear” and was too frightened to leave his home by himself.
Header image: Left, right, Mhindurwa during the first attack (Victoria Police).
