78-year-old Anita Christanga suffered horrific injuries after she was brutally bashed by an 18-year-old thug in her home in Sydney while she was sleeping.

The grandmother, who was left with a broken jaw, nose and eye socket, and also six fractured ribs and bleeding on the brain, passed away four months after the incident.

18-year-old Brendan Lee Burton, who lived across the road, was arrested and charged with two counts of causing grievous bodily harm and committing an indictable offense.

The teen later confessed to the assault.

He was left with a broken jaw after another inmate beat him to a pulp. 7 News reported that he was treated in Long Bay Prison Hospital.

Ms. Cristanga’s son and daughter-in-law spoke out about the horrifying experience on July 24. “We’ve lost a mother, kids have lost a grandmother, my wife’s lost a mother-in-law and friends have lost a dear friend,” her son, Samuel Christanga, told 7 News.

He added: “She should have been safe in her house but she wasn’t. She loved her dancing, wherever she went she had friends and she loved the community she lived in for 35 years.

“She suffered quite a lot during that assault.”

Burton faces a maximum of 20 years in prison. Members of the Christanga family will read out victim impact statements at the next hearing.

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