Peter Salapura (left) and Julius Medina leave court.
(Courtesy: Herald Sun)
An Australian judge lashed out at two teens for terrorising and robbing six Indian men over four days last year, in a racist rampage they codenamed 'Punji hunting'.
"Stupid men, bogans, thugs and dopey teenagers," shot off the county court judge to the two boys - both 19 - who allegedly went on a racist rampage targeting vulnerable Indians, along with six other accused.
Annoyed by the episode, the judge said some youths should be "put in a dark cupboard at 16 and brought out again at age 25," the 'Herald Sun' reported.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid young men," Judge Liz Gaynor said to the two teenagers - Julius Medina and Peter Salapura - who went 'Punji hunting' to terrorise and rob Indian victims.
The court heard that Medina attacked six Indian men in a four-day rampage in St Albans and Taylors Lakes between December 7 and December 11 last year.
All of the victims, aged between 19 and 26, were walking on the street at night when confronted by Medina and up to six co-accused.
Medina, a chef involved in a programme for troubled teens, threatened one victim with a knife and another three victims with an imitation pistol. Salapura was involved in two of the robberies.
Five of the six victims were robbed of their wallets and mobile phones, while several were punched and beaten with a metal bar.
Neither Medina, of Delahey, nor Salapura, of Enfield, near Ballarat, were charged with injuring the victims.
"No offence to the men in the court today, but (some) boys should be put into a dark cupboard at 16 and brought out again at age 25," the angry judge said.
Medina pleaded guilty to three counts of attempted armed robbery, two counts of robbery and one count of armed robbery. Salapura pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery.
Both teens were accompanied by seven other youths arrested by police in December.
Five of the boys pleaded guilty in the Children's Court, while charges against another youth were dismissed and an 18-year-old is awaiting trial in August next year.
Prosecutor Amelia Macknay told the court the group discussed going 'Punji hunting' before setting out to rob the Indian men. "These were group attacks on vulnerable victims who are minding their own business at night," Macknay said.
However, Medina's lawyer Chris McLennan told the court the attacks were not racially-motivated.
"They targeted these victims because they are peace-loving and they probably have more expensive equipment," said, McLennan, adding his client had been "out of control" since he was 15 and had been expelled from two secondary colleges.
Medina's mother, born in the Philippines, and Salapura's mother, born in Serbia, both wept in court as details of their sons' crimes were read in court.
"It's the same hideous, racist behaviour that their parents would have been terrified of when they came here and to see that their children are behaving in the same way to migrants must be almost too terrible to bear," Gaynor said.
Medina and Salapura's bail was extended and they will be sentenced next month.