Teen jailed for beating up grandmother months before her death left with broken jaw after fight with inmate
A teenage thug has been left with a broken jaw after a fight with an inmate in jail, where he was remanded in custody pending his sentencing for brutally bashing a defenseless grandmother in her home.
The grandmother, 78-year-old Anita Christanga, sustained horrific injuries when she was attacked by a neighbor in her Toongabbie residence in Sydney back in January 2017, according to a Daily Mail report. She died four months after the ordeal.
Brendan Lee Burton, who was 18 at the time, confessed to the assault after he was arrested and charged with two counts of causing grievous bodily harm and committing a serious indictable offense.
In a recent update, Burton reportedly got into a violent physical altercation with another inmate in the first week of August and was left with a broken jaw. According to Seven News, he was subsequently treated at the Long Bay Prison Hospital.
Christanga had sustained severe injuries following the cowardly attack, including a broken nose, jaw and eye socket apart from bleeding in the brain and six fractured ribs. While the grandmother died four months later, it wasn't established if her death was the result of the horrific injuries she sustained from Burton's assault.
Radio host Ray Hadley shared a disturbing photo of Christanga's shocking injuries two years after her death. On July 24, her embattled son and daughter-in-law recounted the traumatic incident outside Penrith Local Court.
"We've lost a mother, our kids have lost a grandmother, my wife's lost a mother-in-law and friends have lost a dear friend," Christanga's son Samuel told Seven News. "She should have been safe in her house but she wasn't." He added, "She loved her dancing, wherever she went she had friends and she loved the community she lived in for 35 years."
Meanwhile, her daughter-in-law, Jelena Christanga, lamented, "She suffered quite a lot during that assault." Burton was expected to be sentenced soon enough, however, the hearing has been postponed until he completely recovers from his injuries.
Several members of the Christanga family are set to read out their victim impact statements at the sentencing hearing. Burton can receive a maximum sentence of 20 years for the grievous bodily harm he inflicted on the elderly woman.