Mother bashed when she tried to defend her son from two attackers

Jake Blackburn, pictured in footage from an earlier Supreme Court case, has been sentenced for several assaults. Photo: Screenshot.

The mother of a young man under attack from two assailants was bashed herself when she tried to defend her son.

Jake Blackburn, 22, was sentenced in the ACT Magistrates Court on Monday (13 December) over his role in what Magistrate Glenn Theakston said was a “distasteful” incident against a woman who was “simply trying to protect her son”.

He said Blackburn’s co-accused had gotten into an argument with two siblings in January 2021, despite the attempts of one of them to deescalate the situation.

Blackburn and the co-accused went to the siblings’ home where Blackburn pushed the son down stairs, dragged him into a garden bed and punched him in the face.

When the mother tried to intervene, the co-accused pushed her and punched her in the face, then Blackburn pushed the son into a thorn bush and threw more punches at him.

The mother tried to stop them again. This time Blackburn punched her twice in the face. She was left with a black eye after the incident.

Later, a warrant was issued for Blackburn’s arrest. Police found him at a house in April 2021 and walked him outside, during which he headbutted an officer in the face.

Magistrate Theakston said the police had just been doing their job and there had been no immediate threat to Blackburn.

“There was no need for him to panic,” he said.

“What occurred there was senseless violence for no purpose at all.

“The police deserve the support of the court. They go to work like many other people each day.”

Magistrate Theakston said Blackburn had been sentenced in the Supreme Court in October over charges relating to forcibly confining someone and bashing them with a tyre iron.

He said Blackburn had lost his job as a kitchenhand due to the COVID-19 lockdown and character references painted a picture of a man “who has had a very difficult life”.

Blackburn pleaded guilty to charges of assault and was sentenced to the equivalent of nine months’ jail, but it will only add an additional four months to his current sentence.

He is eligible to be released from custody when his non-parole period ends in June 2024.