A diagnosed schizophrenic who attacked a mother while on a drug and alcohol-fuelled bender could be released within months.
Jahvid Gadd, 32, pleaded guilty to two assault charges and one charge of shooting missiles when he appeared in the Mildura Magistrates Court on Monday.
Harrowing CCTV footage played in court showed a panicked Gadd banging on the door of a family’s home in Mildura, on the Victoria-NSW border, on May 18.
The court heard that when the mother told him her children were sleeping, Gadd violently hit her on the head several times before throwing her to the ground and kicking her.
Gadd was sentenced to four months behind bars and will likely be released in October after already serving 18 days in custody.
Jahvid Gadd (pictured) has been sentenced after brutally attacking a mother in her Mildura home on May 18
The court heard that Gadd returned to the house the next day after the attack, where he was spotted by a local resident throwing stones at the woman. Mildura news reports.
Locals reported the incident to police, sparking a nearly two-week search after Gadd fled to Adelaide in breach of a 2012 sex offender registry order.
He was eventually arrested at a house in Davoren Park in Adelaide’s north on May 30 and extradited back to Victoria.
While being questioned by police, Gadd claimed he had no memory of the attack or the subsequent incident.
His lawyer told the court that at the time of the attack he had ‘not slept for four days’ and that he had been drinking too much and taking drugs due to mental health problems.
The court also heard that Gadd apologized when shown the footage but denied the stone-throwing attack had taken place.
An emotionless Gadd looked stony-faced at the AV link camera as the footage was played in court.
The court heard Gadd had not slept for four days while on a drug and alcohol fueled bender when he punched and kicked the mother (pictured)
Magistrate Patrick Southey was shocked by the video, especially the “force of the first blow and how forcefully he threw her to the ground.”
He added that everyone who viewed the footage was “shocked, horrified and sickened” by Gadd’s actions.
Prosecutor Matt Pardon said the “scariest” moment during the attack was the kick that fortunately grazed the mother’s head.
Magistrate Southey found Gadd unsuitable for a community corrections order and sentenced him to prison.
He added that Gadd would have been jailed for seven months if he had not pleaded guilty.