Woman who assaulted an elderly, vision-impaired passenger was given a two-month suspended jail sentence

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Queensland’s attorney general will appeal against the two-month suspended jail sentence handed to a Gold Coast woman who attacked an elderly, vision-impaired bus passenger.

Larna Watmough, 21, and her co-accused were labelled as “louts” and “idiots” by a magistrate last month after pleading guilty to seriously assaulting a person over 60.

The two stirred national outrage in February when footage went viral of the attack on 77-year-old Paul Buttigieg on a bus in the Gold Coast suburb of Kirra.

Watmough was given a two-month prison sentence, wholly suspended for 18 months, for the assault and ordered to pay $500 in compensation.

She was heckled outside her sentencing hearing at Southport magistrates court.

The attorney general, Jarrod Bleijie, will appeal against the sentence on the grounds it is “manifestly inadequate”.

The director of public prosecutions will act on his behalf in the district court.