A teenager accused of brutally assaulting a five-month-pregnant mother was released on bail just two days before the alleged assault.
Disgusting CCTV footage showed a teenage girl grabbing her mother’s hair from behind and dragging her down an alley as she pushed the twins in a pram in Smallman Place, Perth, on Monday.
A 15-year-old girl has since been charged in the alleged robbery, which left dogged police officers “wordless”.
A close relative of the accused teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, announced the girl from “disadvantaged background” was released on bail from Banksia Hill Juvenile Detention Center on Saturday.
The family member told the Western Australian the 15-year-old was “desperate for money” and gave her and another girl cash to go shopping hours before the alleged attack.
“I don’t even know what to say, it’s just too hard to even think about it. In fact, watching this video made me cry,” she said.
“It shocked me. It’s horrible to even see something like this happening.’
WA Police footage showed the scooter outside the home
The terrifying vision shows a girl brutally dragging her mother to the ground as she struggles to hold on to her stroller.
When the 37-year-old mother falls, her stroller overturns and her two toddlers’ legs are thrown into the air as they scream and cry.
She is then dragged further down the alley by the teenager in what police say was an attempt to steal the woman’s purse.
Police urged the mother to see a doctor as soon as possible as she was more than halfway through her pregnancy and had fallen on her stomach.
Minutes before the 12.40pm attack, a teenager was pictured on CCTV with another teenage girl on a scooter.
Both girls were arrested later that day at a home where the second girl’s scooter was parked in the driveway.
Footage shows a teenager attempting to steal the 37-year-old mother’s purse in a vicious daylight attack
Horrified commentators flooded social media with shock and horror at the incident, which took place in broad daylight in a Perth suburb
Police footage shows the girls crying and swearing while other household members yell in the background.
Only the 15-year-old girl was charged in connection with the attack, with police noting the other teenager was only arrested as part of an early investigation.
The footage released by WA Police sparked a wave of outrage on social media, with many shocked by the violence and others concerned for the well-being of the mother and children.
“I hope they’re okay… thank god the mother strapped the kids in the stroller properly… they would have been so scared,” one person said.
Police arrested a 15-year-old girl (pictured) shortly after the alleged attack and charged with robbery
The footage shows a teenager approaching the mother from behind and pulling her hair down an alley
“This poor mother and her young children must be traumatised, I hope they are well including the unborn baby. It’s absolutely shocking,” said another.
The girl has been charged with robbery and is due to appear in Geraldton Magistrates Court on September 13.
Investigators released CCTV footage of the attack to find out what happened and asked that anyone with relevant information contact the police.
Neighbors told The West Australian they were “disgusted” by the brutal daylight attack, as some other local mothers are now too scared to leave their homes.
“How can someone that age have the audacity to do that… an adult with a stroller, it’s disgusting,” said a neighbor.
“I’ve never experienced or heard of violence of this kind here.”
Another added: “I’m a mum to a little boy and I walk the same street it makes me stop walking around there.”
The mother tried to hold down her fallen stroller as the teenager tried to steal her purse
