Melissa Hastie, 48, of Shepparton, her son Ritchie Alderton-Hastie, 20, of Kangaroo Flat, and his cousin Kial Alderton, 27, of White Hills, faced Shepparton County Court over the attack at a Wyuna property on February 17 last year.
Alderton pleaded guilty to intentionally causing injury, making a threat to kill, using a firearm while a prohibited person, possessing a firearm while a prohibited person and possessing cannabis, as well as summary charges of trespassing, possessing a prohibited weapon, possessing cartridge ammunition without a licence and failing to stop on police direction.
Hastie pleaded guilty to intentionally causing injury, burglary and criminal damage.
Alderton-Hastie pleaded guilty to intentionally causing injury, and a summary charge of trespassing.
The court heard the trio attacked Hastie’s ex-partner at his friend’s Wyuna house.
Alderton pointed a single-barrel shotgun at the victim before hitting him in the face four times with the butt and muzzle of the gun.
The man fell to the ground and the trio kicked and punched him in the head while he was on the ground.
Hastie then went into the house where she smashed multiple windows and a television.
The court heard the victim was assaulted for about 30 minutes, in an attack that left him unconscious.
A video played to the court, that was filmed by Alderton, showed Alderton as he struck the victim with the gun and threatened to kill him, while Alderton-Hastie stomped on his head.
Anderton also threatened to “put a shell in his head” as he held the gun’s muzzle to the man’s head.
As the victim gained consciousness he found paint had been sprayed in his mouth by Alderton-Hastie.
During the assault, Alderton also fired the gun into the ground near the victim.
The victim was taken to hospital, where he was treated for fractures and deep lacerations to his face.
Earlier in the night, police had twice tried to stop Alderton while driving in Echuca, but he sped off on them.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, the victim told how it was impossible not to see the scars on his face from the attack, which he said made him look like the Joker from the Batman movies.
“At the hospital, police gave me a look of horror and shock at how severely I was injured,” the victim said.
He also said he still had daily flashbacks, including one where he could see the shotgun coming towards his face.
Alderton-Hastie’s defence counsel Robert Thyssen told the court his client was only 18 years old at the time of the incident, and had witnessed violence against his mother.
Judge Nola Karapanagiotidis said while she appreciated Alderton-Hastie was only young and had witnessed the violence, she labelled the attack as “vigilantism” and said the assault was “brutal and entirely unacceptable”.
She did, however, say that Alderton-Hastie had experience “significant disruption and disadvantage” in his childhood, and had witnessed trauma from a young age.
While the defence asked for a sentence that combined jail and a community corrections order, prosecutor Andrew Moore said the attack was “horrendous” and that Alderton-Hastie had been a “willing participant in helping to badly injure the victim”.
Alderton’s defence counsel Sean Kelly said his client had only discovered Alderton-Hastie was his cousin not long before the incident.
He also said Alderton did not know the victim before this night.
Mr Kelly said Alderton’s drug use had “spiralled” after the deterioration of a relationship, and in the lead-up to the incident he was using five grams of methamphetamines a day.
The prosecutor described Alderton’s behaviour as “extremely frightening and violent”.
“It’s inarguable that he took the lead role. He was the one who brought the gun, used it (in the assault) and discharged it,” Mr Moore said.
“It must have been a terrifying experience.”
Hastie’s defence counsel Amanda Hurst said her client was “part of the driving force” for the offending because she wanted to get her car back from the victim.
She also said Hastie had had a “terrible relationship” with the victim over four years, and he had a history of violence against her.
Ms Hurst also said Hastie was not aware of the gun until it was produced on the night.
The matter was adjourned for a further plea and sentence in May.
Alderton and Alderton-Hastie remain remanded in custody, while Hastie’s bail continues until then.
