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Man who knocked a grandmother unconscious and left her bloodied outside a church is sent to jail – as victim says she forgives her attacker
- WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT
- Penelope Katsavos was beaten up by Amrick Roy outside Melbourne church in 2021
- The grandmother of six was left with a brain haemorrhage, a broken wrist and a broken hip
- She told the court she has forgiven the attacker who pleaded guilty last week
- Roy will spend three and a half years behind bars before being eligible for parole
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A grandmother who was brutally beaten outside a Melbourne church and left unconscious on the sidewalk has forgiven her attacker, who has been jailed for up to five years.
Penelope Katsavos, 79, was opening the doors of the Greek Orthodox Church in South Yarra for morning service on March 13, 2021 when she was attacked by Amrick Roy.
She was standing on the church steps with a shopping cart full of food, money, and her phone when Roy, 27, approached her at 6 a.m. He yelled at her and grabbed the cart.
Roy hit her in the face and she fell to the ground hitting the concrete steps with her head. He took the trolley and fled, leaving Mrs. Katsavos unconscious.
A council worker found her at 6:30 am and she was taken to hospital with a broken hip and wrist, her face swollen and covered in cuts and bruises.
Roy was arrested by the police five days later.
Penelope Katsavos was left lying on the steps of the church (pictured) after being brutally attacked in 2021
He lied to officers, saying the elderly woman hit him first, which the County Court of Victoria told Friday was likely due to his “overwhelming shame”.
He was in a state of psychosis during the crime after smoking and drinking synthetic cannabis at Revolver nightclub earlier that evening, the court was told.
Before attacking Mrs. Katsavos, Roy assaulted a club member, a street sweeper, a man waiting outside the Chapel Street Nike store, and another man near Liquorland.
Roy’s attacks on those four men weren’t that violent, though, because other people had intervened.
Roy pleaded guilty to five charges, including three assaults, reckless injury to Mrs. Katsavos, and theft of her cart.
The court was told she has forgiven Roy for the assault, which robbed her of her independence and ability to care for her husband.
“No punishment you receive will change the life sentence you have handed me,” she wrote in a statement to the court.
“I will continue to walk through this life with love and strength.”
Penelope Katsavos’s face was covered in massive purple bruises, from her right eye to her chin (pictured left after the attack and right in hospital)
Amrick Roy (pictured) was sentenced to five years in prison on Friday. He has been behind bars for 18 months
Mrs. Katsavos needs a walker due to her injuries and is forced to put her husband in a nursing home because she can no longer care for him. She struggles daily with loneliness, sadness and pain.
Judge John Carmody said Ms Katsavos had shown mercy and wisdom as he described Roy’s insult as “unprovoked and unfounded.”
“Mrs. Katsavos was an elderly woman, alone at a church door, doing her charitable work for others,” he said.
‘The incident started because you wanted to take her cart, after you took it you dumped it, leaving her unconscious and helpless on the sidewalk after the attack.
“Your offense is objectively serious.”
Roy has been in pre-trial detention for a year and a half. He must spend three and a half years in prison before being eligible for parole.
The judge said Penelope Katsavos (pictured with her husband Thomas) showed mercy and wisdom by forgiving her attacker.