A Dennington couple has pleaded guilty to a violent home invasion that left an elderly victim with the worst psychological trauma a detective of 22 years has ever seen.
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Tammy Louise Innes, 26, and Stuart Ian Dewitte, 27, both of the Esplanade, appeared in the Warrnambool Magistrates Court on Friday for a committal mention hearing.
A crown prosecutor withdrew 14 charges and the pair pleaded guilty to the remaining charges of false imprisonment, aggravated burglary, and common law assault.
Innes also pleaded guilty to one count of theft while Dewitte entered a guilty plea to cultivating cannabis.
The charges will be heard in the county court next month.
The couple has been in custody since being arrested in April last year.
Dewitte was remanded in custody and will appear in the county court on March 10.
Innes unsuccessfully applied for bail and was also remanded in custody until that date.
In an earlier court appearance, Warrnambool police Detective Senior Constable Richard Hughes said the pair armed themselves with a nail gun and threatened to kill a 67-year-old vulnerable victim during a terrifying midnight home invasion at Kirkstall on March 29.
He said the victim was forced to sit down in his own kitchen while Innes stabbed a knife between his fingers and threatened to cut off his fingers and toes.
She assaulted him 10 times to the head, causing his false teeth to fly out of his mouth.
Detective Senior Constable Hughes said Dewitte discharged a nail gun a number of times while inside the house and threatened to nail the victim to the table and floor.
"I've had numerous dealings with this victim and in 22 years (as a police officer) this is up there with the worst psychological impact on a victim I've seen," Detective Senior Constable Hughes told the court in December last year.
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