Hammer Maniac Tried To Kill Mother And Daughter Outside Home

Hammer Mayhem: Xuereb

A hammer-wielding former mental health patient has been detained for trying to kill a mother and daughter during a sudden unprovoked attack.

Heavy cannabis smoker Joe Xuereb, 28, only lived three doors from the victims, a 30 year-old Polish woman and her mother, 64, who was visiting her.

He was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order under the Mental Health Act after pleading guilty to two counts of attempted murder and one of possessing an offensive weapon.

Xuereb, of Adderley Gardens, Eltham was outside his home just after midday on Sunday, August 19, last year when he approached the victims from behind.

Xuereb, armed with a hammer, repeatedly struck both victims over the head and face in a sustained and unprovoked attack which left both victims unconscious.

As they lay prone in the street, Xuereb continued to strike them both in the head and face before he fled the scene.

Following the arrival of the emergency services, the victims were taken to hospital in a critical condition.

Both remained in hospital for a number of weeks and were left with life changing injuries.

Officers issued an urgent appeal for information and Xuereb was identified by a member of the public in Bexley later the same day and was arrested at 7.36pm.

Judge Richard Marks said if not for the presence of psychiatric illness, a life sentence would have been inevitable.

Detective Sergeant Matt Deans, from the Homicide and Major Crime Command, said: “This was a brutal and unprovoked attack, which both victims are incredibly lucky to have survived.

“This horrific incident has had a significant impact on both of their lives and we hope this conviction will bring them some kind of closure.”