Melbourne bookstore owner bashed

July 23rd, 2012

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

A 61-year-old Melbourne bookstore owner may have been brutally bashed by a startled thief for as little as $200, a relative says.

Jill Brookes, who worked alone in the western suburbs store, is now in an induced coma in hospital with severe head injuries after she was found in a pool of blood on Friday afternoon.

She was discovered by chance when a boy walking by saw her lying on the floor, said Jerome Chin, who works at a coffee shop three doors down from the woman’s West Side Stories bookstore in Altona.

“He ran in here and we called an ambulance,” he told AAP on Monday.

Ms Brookes’ injuries were considered life-threatening over the weekend, with skull fractures and wounds to her hand, but she is now listed in a critical but stable condition.

“I don’t know who’s done this and I don’t know what the outcome of all of this is going to be,” said a family member, who didn’t want to be identified, as he returned to the closed shop on Monday.

He said Ms Brookes might have been in the back of her store and have disturbed a thief rummaging through her till, which held no more than $200 in the daily float.

“They’ve taken the money. The drawer is open,” he said.

But police say they have not yet been able to confirm if the incident can be linked to a robbery or some other motive.

“It’s certainly a vicious, cowardly attack,” said Detective Sergeant Brad Lawrence.

“It’s too early to determine what has taken place.”

Local traders said the victim was a well-known and respected identity, and the local mayor had sent his sympathies to her family.

Police hope to find anyone who saw Ms Brookes between 3pm and 5pm (AEST) on Friday.