By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A man in his early forties was jailed over a drunken late-night home invasion in which he threw a large rock at his partner’s former husband.
The keen cricketer – with little criminal history – was fuelled with about 15 to 20 drinks after attending a Test Match at the MCG followed by drinks at a Berwick pub on 27 December, 2016, the County Court of Victoria heard.
He told police that he “cracked” when he was picked up from the pub by his apparently intoxicated partner.
“I had enough of the four years of bulls*** with a depressed alcoholic (his partner) who used to be married to that person (the victim).”
However he couldn’t remember the ensuing assault and aggravated burglary, he told police.
The court heard the man had armed himself with two large rocks and entered through the unlocked front door of the victim’s Cranbourne North house late that night.
With the victim’s three teen and adult children inside the home, the man yelled “Where is he?” and hurled a rock at the victim who emerged from the bedroom.
The victim dodged the projectile which created a large hole in a plasterboard interior wall.
The man wrestled with the victim and the victim’s son in the kitchen, and was pushed down the hallway out the front door.
“Come outside. I’ll bash the f*** out of you,” the man yelled.
He hurled a large rock through the home’s front window, and smashed the victim’s car’s windscreen and passenger window, bent the car aerial and broke a letter box.
Narre Warren police stated the man was kept in police cells for three-and-a-half hours due to his drunkenness.
In sentencing on 20 November, Judge Gabriele Cannon noted the profound impacts on the victim and his three children.
The victims stated they were fearful during the attack and felt unsafe in the house ever since.
Judge Cannon noted the victim sustained cuts as well as a swollen elbow which required daily pain relief.
The injury restricted the victim in daily tasks and caused him to give up sport.
The offending was “serious”, aggravated by being late at night and in front of the victim’s children, Judge Cannon said.
There had been a long-standing “soap-opera like” acrimony between the families, she said.
The man had a limited criminal history but a history of binge drinking, cannabis smoking and at times regular intravenous amphetamine use.
His time in jail would be more difficult due to his medical and mental health issues including severe depression and a near life-ending stroke.
The judge rated the man’s prospects of rehabilitation as “very good”.
He had abstained from drugs and alcohol as part of strict bail conditions since the incident, Judge Cannon said.
The man was convicted and jailed for three years with a 15-month non-parole period.
