The alleged victim of a home invasion has described the moment where she claims two armed men smashed through the glass window of her home and attacked her.
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She gave evidence in Wangaratta Magistrates Court this week where Arthur Rule was committed to stand trial over offences including home invasion, intentionally cause injury, assault with a weapon and intentionally damage property.
He and the 64-year-old woman were neighbours in the North East farming town of St James and had a history of not getting along.
It is alleged Rule, 48, and his son Quentin assaulted the woman together on July 20 last year at about 11pm, when the woman had got out of bed to go to the toilet.
"Arthur came through my window after smashing it with a baseball bat, a black baseball bat, and Quentin was behind him with a pipe," the victim told the court.
"They smashed the window, walked into my house."
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Her glass window and sliding door were damaged.
"Arthur was the first one through, Arthur was screaming at me that he was going to kill me and Arthur was the first one to hit me - I flew across the room," the woman said.
"He hit me in the side with a baseball bat."
She told police she managed to crawl to her car and drive away to get help, as the men hit the vehicle with their weapons.
Her spleen was shattered, she had surgery on seven ribs, four broken fingers as well as a broken ankle.
Quentin Rule has pleaded guilty to his role in the assault and told police he acted alone. Arthur Rule's defence barrister Brendan Wilkinson put it to the victim in court that Quentin assaulted her and damaged her car, and Arthur Rule was the one who helped her get up.
"That's not true," she replied.
She also denied a suggestion from Mr Wilkinson that she had been drinking alcohol or smoking marijuana that night.
Cobram Detective Senior Constable Bree George gave evidence that police had not found the black baseball bat, but did find a brick that was also used, which did not have any fingerprint evidence.
The case will now proceed to the County Court for trial.