Two young women have been charged with an apparently racist assault upon an elderly and vision-impaired man in a broad-daylight attack that was captured on camera and circulated on social media.
Lana Janet Watmough, 21, and Layni Gloria Cameron, 17, handed themselves into police after footage of the incident on a Gold Coast bus in Queensland, Australia, was widely publicised.
Yesterday both were charged with serious assault and public nuisance – Ms Watmough was granted bail, while Ms Cameron remains held without an application for bail.
The pair were filmed by a 13-year-old girl on Tuesday, allegedly kicking and spitting at 77-year-old Paul Buttigieg, who was sitting at the front of the bus.
Mr Buttigieg is believed to have been racially vilified by at least one of the young women.
The case sparked a massive public backlash, leading to a petition and Facebook group set up to try to get the duo convicted.
Ms Watmough and Ms Cameron began expletive-ridden tirade after boarding the bus, before allegedly verbally abusing a mother with a pram saying: ‘Look at yourself, you fat f****** mole.’
‘They were swearing down the back and they finished up down near me, and they were swearing, and I just said “would you mind stop swearing” – bang and they hit me,’ Mr Buttigieg told Nine News.
It has since also been revealed that Ms Watmough is the cousin of Australian rugby league footballer Anthony Watmough.
The pair’s defence lawyer said that the backlash had gone too far and that the young women had received death threats.
Source - Metro
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