Man assaulted and robbed for rent money

Prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Anna Hanlon told the court Semisi and another co-accused man had yelled out to a man that they wanted his rent money as he walked to the office of the Ardmona Caravan Park at 11.30am on April 11, 2023.

Semisi put the victim in a headlock and threw him to the ground, before holding him down while the other man kicked him several times.

The co-accused took the man’s wallet, and his glasses were broken in the attack.

The victim received two fractured ribs in the attack.

When interviewed by police, Semisi told them “I didn’t take the money” and “I didn’t do any damage”.

Semisi’s defence solicitor Albert Suttor told the court Semisi was on a community corrections order for another matter and had completed all of his community work hours, had not missed any appointments and had engaged with his worker.

Mr Suttor said there had been a question about whether his client had been complicit in the attack, but he pleaded guilty after a sentence indication from magistrate Allison Vaughan that she would sentence him to a community corrections order if he pleaded guilty.

Ms Vaughan said Semisi was complicit in the attack.

“You can’t pin a person on the ground and stick the boot in,” she said.

Mr Suttor said Semisi was a “changed man” since the incident nearly two and a half years ago, and that he now “wants to do better” for his grandchildren.

“He’s abided by his community corrections order impressively,” he said.

Ms Vaughan told Semisi she would have jailed him except for the fact he was already completing a community corrections order.

She sentenced him to a five-month community corrections order to run alongside the one he is already on.

The new order will include 30 hours of community work — all of which can be used for mental health, drug and alcohol treatments.