Joshua Edwards, 23, was jailed for one month after pleading guilty to aggravated burglary and assault.
A WARRNAMBOOL man who was part of a group of five who sought payback after one of them was bashed by a love rival has been jailed.
A full courtroom saw David De Bono, 19, Joshua Edwards, 23, Brandon Everard, 20, Levi Geebung, 19, and Wade Paton, 19, sentenced in Warrnambool County Court yesterday after each pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary and assault.
Edwards was jailed for one month and placed on a community corrections order for three years.
The court heard Edwards had a prior conviction for manslaughter when he was 17 and at the time was sentenced to three years in a youth justice centre.
Judge Mark Taft said because Edwards’ prior conviction involved alcohol and violence, his recent offending warranted a short, sharp term of imprisonment.
De Bono, Everard, Geebung and Paton were each convicted and placed on community corrections orders (CCOs) for 30 months, ordered to complete 250 hours of unpaid community work, be assessed and treated for alcohol abuse and attend an anger management violence program.
On March 30 this year the five went to the Whalers Hotel for a friend’s 21st birthday.
About 2.30am the next day Everard went to the Dennington home of a woman he had been involved with in an on-again, off-again relationship.
After Everard arrived he and the woman went to her bedroom and started having sex.
About 15 minutes later another man, Jake Arndell, who was also involved in an intermittent relationship with the same woman, arrived at the home and was let in by a flatmate.
He went to the woman’s bedroom and found Everard and the woman in bed together. An altercation occurred between Arndell and Everard, with Arndell punching Everard three or four times to the head, causing bruising under an eye. As a result of the assault Arndell appeared in Warrnambool Magistrates Court on July 31 and pleaded guilty to recklessly causing injury. He was convicted and heavily fined.
Soon after the incident at Dennington, Arndell went to work at Baker’s Delight.
Everard went to another Dennington home and met up with his four friends. Everard discussed what had happened and the five men decided to pay Arndell a visit at work to exact revenge.
At 5am Everard and Paton entered through the rear door of the bakery, followed by the three other men.
Everard approached Arndell and there was a verbal altercation.
Arndell pushed Everard, who pushed him back and Arndell stumbled backwards before falling onto a steel baking rack. A physical altercation then occurred, with the five men punching Arndell to the head and back.
Two of the men denied throwing punches.
Arndell managed to free himself, got to his feet and jumped a glass counter to get away, but in the process the glass cabinet smashed, causing almost $1500 damage. He suffered numerous cuts, abrasions and bruising, which required nine stitches.
Crown prosecutor Diana Piekusis said the offenders were fuelled with alcohol, poor judgment and misguided loyalty. She said the attack would have been terrifying and the court needed to send a clear message that it was not acceptable.
Judge Taft said it was a cowardly attack with five drunk young men onto one man. He said the five men intended to get even with the victim by taking the law into their own hands.
“The five of you greatly outnumbered Arndell,” he said.
Judge Taft said the five men had been supported by their families and employers and they owed it to them to not get into trouble again.
Everard was also sentenced on a separate charge to assault and damaging property and was fined $1000.