Dean Stephen Reid, 32, and David Micheal Evans, 34, will be eligible for parole in May 2022 after they were sentenced on Monday for their roles in the 2019 attack.
The ACT Supreme Court heard the duo turned up at an Oaks Estate house along with Joshua Darcy Watson, Norman Collier and underworld figure Sharon Stott on January 10 last year. The resident eventually let them in and Reid disarmed him of a knife, forced him to the ground, held the weapon to his throat and slashed the man’s hand and thigh.
Evans smashed the victim with an electric guitar between eight and 10 times, breaking his leg, and also dropped a speaker on his chest and broke his ribs. The victim told the court in a statement he felt his leg bone break through his skin during the attack. “I remembered I wanted to die right then,” he said.
Justice Chrissa Loukas-Karlsson said either Reid or Evans hit the victim with a metal bar. Stott retrieved gun parts from the house and Reid later enlisted the help of neighbours to jack up the victim’s car. Reid later sent Stott a video of the Commodore and did a standover job on the victim while he was in hospital, telling the man he’d get his car back if he dropped his statements to police.
In sentencing Reid and Evans on Monday, Justice Loukas-Karlsson noted each of their links to outlaw motorcycle clubs. At some point during the Oaks Estate attack, Reid claimed to be the president of a bikie club. Police later found a Satudarah vest with a patch labelled “president” at his house, along with Rebels paraphernalia.
His ex-partner told the court he disassociated from the Rebels in 2014. Prosecutors said Evans’ phone conversations from jail after the home invasion suggested he was still a member of a bikie club, but Justice Loukas-Karlsson said his association wasn’t clear by sentencing. Justice Loukas-Karlsson said Reid had a childhood marred by chronic alcohol abuse.
His sister told the court in a reference Reid was “not the big tough guy he is made out to be”, but a “follower”.
“I know he would love a family of his own,” another of Reid’s sisters said.
Justice Loukas-Karlsson said Evans had used methamphetamine since he was 21. But, despite neither Reid nor Evans having had an easy start in life, that was “no excuse for violence against others”.
“You would not want the people you love … to be treated the way you treated this victim,” Justice Loukas-Karlsson said.
“Being an adult is about doing the right thing, especially when it’s hard.” She sentenced Reid to a total of five years and 11 months in jail for aggravated robbery, being knowingly concerned in the taking of a motor vehicle, and intentionally attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Justice Loukas-Karlsson sentenced Evans to four years and 11 months in jail for aggravated robbery. “Don’t let this be dead time [in jail],” she told them both. Reid and Evans will be eligible for parole on May 24, 2022.
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Source: The Canberra Times by Cassandra Morgan