By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS
A NARRE Warren man addicted to synthetic cannabis has been jailed after strangling his wheelchair-bound brother, trashing the family home and pawning off his mother’s belongings.
The man flew into a rage at the family home in May after his mother left him $20 for cigarettes instead of $25, Dandenong Magistrates’ Court heard on 25 July.
During his pique, he put two hands on his brother’s neck for about a minute, broke a glass picture frame, threw living room items and attacked a disability meal table and wooden cabinet with a hammer.
The man then used duct tape to cover his brother’s mouth and nose and bind his hands.
He poked the brother several times in the stomach with the “sharp end” of a broomstick and hit his brother in an area in which he had no feeling.
The man later told police that his brother was “no angel” and “the biggest c*** the world ever knew”.
“He can’t use his legs but makes sure he can use his arms,” he told police.
He bound the brother with duct tape so “he’d shut the f*** up”.
The mother didn’t arrive home until half-an-hour after the tirade started. The man then tore down a dividing door in the hallway and started throwing half-lit cigarettes around the house.
His mother told police she was awake until the early hours of next day, fearing the man would enact his threats to burn down the house.
The man left for some time, sleeping in his car in public reserves and police were unable to find him.
He returned to the family home in the meantime, removing a side sliding door, and kicking in another deadlocked door.
On eight separate visits to a Cash Converters store in April and May, the man pawned off about $2500 of his mother’s goods, including a camera, two vacuum cleaners, a TV and power tools.
On several occasions, he received a loan of just $5 for the goods, including for his brother’s $200 disability exercise equipment.
After his arrest in June, he repeatedly defied CREDIT bail by staying at his grandmother’s Menzies Creek house.
He pawned off her $140 pressure-cleaner, $200 pruner and $310 of other garden tools.
Despite a full intervention order, he also broke into his mother’s shed, and stole and pawned off her lawn mower.
The man soon after admitted himself to Casey Hospital for 11 days before his arrest on discharge on 18 July.
The man, diagnosed with depressive symptoms, told police he could only remember “bits and pieces” from the past few weeks.
Magistrate Jack Vandersteen noted the man had “very significant mental health issues compounded by your drug use”.
“When you were first taken into custody you were very unwell, very erratic and not appreciating the seriousness of what you were facing.”
Mr Vandersteen noted the mother lost an “enormous amount” of goods; the nature of the thefts meant they wouldn’t be covered by insurance.
“I wish Cash Converters would stop you bringing all these things in. You would think it was obvious to someone there.
“It’s that cumulative effect on your family. Your mother would just want her son back, your brother would just want his brother back.”
The man was jailed five months and put on a 12-month community correction order, including drug and mental health treatment.
