Shock sentence for Melbourne woman who appealed conviction for bashing autistic teen in 'appalling' pier attack

A Melbourne teenager who brutally assaulted a 14-year-old autistic girl has had her conviction overturned. 

Alajeck Anai, now 19, carried out the disgusting attack on the young girl with five other teenagers at Altona Pier, western Melbourne, in February 2024.

The assault, which only ended when a bystander stepped in, was filmed and posted on social media. 

On Wednesday, the County Court of Victoria upheld Anais appeal, overturning her conviction and ordering her to serve 15 months of community corrections. 

Anai, who was 18 at the time of the assault, was sentenced at Melbourne Magistrates Court last year to six months in a youth detention centre.

The teenager had pleaded guilty to one charge of affray while charges of intentionally causing injury and recklessly causing injury had been withdrawn by police.

She was the eldest of the five teenagers who launched an attack on the victim and punched the 14-year-old over 40 times.

At Wednesdays appeal hearing, Judge Pardeep Tiwana branded the attack nasty, The Age reported. 

Alajeck Anai, now 19, carried out a disgusting attack on the autistic girl with five other teenagers at Altona Pier (pictured)

The brutal assault (pictured) only came to an end when a bystander stepped in

It was horrible, it was nasty, it was disgusting, he said.

Had she been older or had been in trouble before, I would not have hesitated locking her up.

Speaking outside the court, the victims mother revealed her daughter hadnt returned to school since the attack because shes so scared.

The courts worried about [Anais] rehabilitation and her life, but what about my daughter? We just have to find a way for her to overcome her fear, she said.

She explained her daughter, who previously loved going for walks with the family dog, had a social worker and a psychologist to help but was still often too scared to leave the house. 

The court heard that Anai had been subjected to past trauma, which was taken into account by the judge at the appeal.

She was responsible was caring for her younger siblings, had never had her own bedroom and was a victim of family abuse at home.

The court was told the 19-year-old was in the process of completing a makeup artistry course in a bid to turn her life around after the attack.

The victims mum said her daughter was often too scared to leave the house (pictured)

Her lawyer said Anai was doing excellently after completing an anger management course and meeting with a psychologist. 

Addressing the 19-year-old, the judge called her actions absolutely appalling.

Anai told the court she should never have taken part in the attack and said she has been apologetic ever since that day. 

She said she knew what she did was wrong, and felt empathy for the victim and her family. 

After her appeal was upheld, Anai was ordered to perform 80 hours of community work over 15 months as part of her community corrections order and as part of that order, 30 hours could be for psychological treatment.