Maayga Folasa refused bail pending appeal on carjackings, thefts

Magistrate Russell Kelly gave Maayga Folasa - who pleaded guilty to the charges - a non-parole period of nine months at the hearing on July 26, with 204 days counted as already served.

Two days later Folasa, who appeared from jail by video link, was back in the Magistrates' Court applying for bail pending a County Court appeal against the sentence.

During his July 26 plea the court heard the 40-year-old had lived a normal life as an accountant before "falling into drugs".

In 2019, 2021, 2022 and most recently February, April and March of 2023 he had committed crimes ranging from relatively minor breaches of a family violence order to the theft of thousands of dollars worth of goods he took blatantly from stores, telling people to get out of the way and taking off with a waiting driver, the magistrate said.

He had also pleaded guilty to deception charges involving an improperly obtained credit card and two instances of carjacking, during which he had "us[ed] his size" and threatened victims with a throat-cutting gesture.

Many of the offences had been committed while he was on bail.

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The court heard that on two occasions Folasa went into Anaconda stores and picked out jackets and other items worth thousands of dollars that he walked out the door with.

At Woolworths at Point Cook he loaded up a trolley with $780 worth of "high quality" items, including scotch fillet steak and health and beauty products, that he didn't pay for.

At Woolworths in Shepparton he took $1049 worth of items, and when challenged told the person to "get f****d, f*** off".

On another occasion he stole $3400 worth of mobile phones from Harvey Norman.

He had also taken a $1500 generator at Hoppers Crossing.

While he must have known there was CCTV operating in the stores he stole from, Folasa had no regard for concealing his identity, Magistrate Kelly said.

"I understand why he's doing it. He's got a drug habit he's got to fund but it's very serious offending," the magistrate said.

"He's been on a rampage for two years."

By contrast, Mr Yildirim argued that his client's offending was "highly unsophisticated and unplanned" and had de-escalated.

It didn't involve weapons, threats or concealing his identity and there was no evidence of a commercial enterprise going on, the defence lawyer said.

There had been a gap between periods of his client's offending and a de-escalation, Mr Yildirim asserted, however Folasa had "gone off the rails" after his stepdaughter was removed from him.

The court heard he had crashed one of the cars he stole and at one point been stabbed and put in hospital.

Mr Yildirim argued a non-parole period wouldn't help his client deal with his methamphetamine problem, which was the cause of his offending.

However, Magistrate Kelly told Folasa he had "descended into a life of crime and thuggery" and must be sentenced in accordance with "behaviour ... of the highest criminal level".

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Following the sentencing, at his client's July 28 bail hearing, Mr Yildirim argued Folasa had undergone a significant change in circumstances since he carried out the carjackings two-and-a-half to three years ago, and there was no risk of him committing further offences.

If released he would live with his partner - a social worker, who had been in court to support him - in the small town of Gunbower, and work on her family's large cattle property, his lawyer said.

Mr Yildirim offered an undertaking to personally drive his client, who has been disqualified from holding a licence, to the Echuca police station to report for bail and said Folasa would comply with any bail condition that was set for him.

However, the police prosecutor opposed bail, pointing out that Folasa had had 25 warrants issued for his arrest and that on May 3, when he was arrested, he had fled police, jumping into a neighbour's property, then giving police a false name when he was caught.

Magistrate Kelly noted Folasa had been out on bail for a carjacking when he had committed another carjacking.

Taking all matters into consideration, particularly Folasa's "high level offending", the number of times he had been granted bail, his "mode of arrest" and history of non-compliance with court orders, he refused the application.

"You'll remain in custody until your appeal hearing in October," he told Folasa.

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