Man, 20, felt 'like a goose' after home attack 'talking' would have solved

The now 20-year-old pleaded guilty in the County and Koori County courts to a single charge of aggravated burglary over the February 2023 incident.

On Thursday, June 13, he was sentenced on the charge, which carries a maximum penalty of 25 years imprisonment.

According to the agreed statement, the then 19-year-old had been drinking Jack Daniels with his two cousins, who are brothers, on the night of February 8 2023 when sometime around midnight the trio decided to confront and assault a man they knew.

Believing him to have been talking disparagingly about both the accused's Aboriginal culture and his cousins' mother, the party set off to the unit where the man lived, the cousins each arming themselves with a kitchen knife.

The target of aggression and his 20-year-old partner had woken up to a loud bang and one of the cousins yelling, "Let's scrap!" the court heard.

Dressed only in his underpants, the 22-year-old target armed himself with a wooden shovel handle and yelled at the intruders to f**k off.

But after about three attempts, the threesome succeeded in kicking his wooden door in.

Once inside, the cousins argued with the 22-year-old, but the accused, who was unarmed, "stood there smiling" and saying nothing.

One of the cousins threatened to stab the man if he didn't put the shovel handle down, and when he did, the other one picked it up and swung it around.

In the melee, the 22-year-old was hit in the arm with the wooden handle of a shovel as he raised his arms to shield his head, the court heard.

The man's partner then started screaming, and soon after the accused told the others, "This ends; let's go!" and they ran off.

The attack had "scared the hell out of" the male victim, who had been left with anxiety and an inability to sleep as well as an injured hand and arm.

According to her victim impact statement, his partner felt victimised and powerless and no longer safe in her home.

The court heard the accused had had an unstable childhood, which had impacted him significantly.

However, he had put himself through some years of school, had a strong work history and no previous record of violence.

Since the home invasion he had "tried to do his best to rejoin the community in a meaningful way," cutting down his drinking and returning to full-time work, the court heard.

An Aboriginal support worker, who attended the Koori court, gave evidence he was always respectful and "a pleasure to work with".

In the Koori Court, Elder Uncle Mark Little advised the youth that "the Aboriginal way is respect" - "respect for community and for country".

The young man had made some good decisions, Uncle Little said, but he had also slipped up.

The Elder observed the accused had "a little bit of Aboriginal royalty" in his family and appeared to have leadership potential.

"There won't be a next time for you," he told the young man.

While the prosecution argued his sentence must include jail time, Judge Amanda Chambers found the 20-year-old, who had a lesser role in the crime than his cousins, had very good prospects of rehabilitation and a low risk of reoffending.

"You heard something that rightly made you angry," she told him.

But where it had all "gone seriously wrong" was "when two knives were picked up".

"Luckily nothing worse happened and you're not facing a far more serious charge," she said.

The judge convicted and sentenced the man to a 20-month community corrections order and 150 hours of unpaid community service, up to 100 hours of which could be done in the form of mental health or drug and alcohol treatment.

If he hadn't pleaded guilty, she would have sentenced him to 10 months jail and a 16-month corrections order, the judge said, warning that were he to reoffend, he would come back before her and may be re-sentenced for the home invasion.

Correction: A previous version incorrectly reported the 22-year-old victim was stabbed as he raised his arms to shield his head.