By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A man has been found guilty of firing a shotgun inside a car as he robbed and car-jacked its occupants in Doveton.
Omar Kakar, 34, of Cranbourne North, was found guilty by a Victorian County Court jury of armed robbery, aggravated car jacking and reckless conduct endangering life.
Kakar had argued he believed at the time that he had a “legal right” to take the occupants’ phones, cash and the red Mazda vehicle as collateral for a debt owed to his sister, sentencing judge Michael Cahill noted on 10 August.
He and his co-offender got into the back seats of the vehicle in Claret Street, Doveton on 19 November 2019.
Kakar carried what appeared to be a sawn-off shotgun to protect himself from what he claimed was a “dangerous” male debtor, he claimed.
The debtor wasn’t in the car at the time. Instead his younger brother and the brother’s friend were in the front seats.
Kakar brandished the loaded gun, scaring the victims into handing over their phones and cash.
He then fired a shot into the rear-view mirror, ordered them out of the car and drove off in the vehicle to his girlfriend’s home nearby.
Judge Cahill said the armed robbery and carjacking were planned, premeditated and serious examples of the offences.
The victims had been targeted, and were lured out on the pretext of a drug deal into a dead-end street at night, he said.
Kakar had been abusing ice, Xanax, ecstasy and alcohol at the time of the carjacking.
In pleading not guilty, he claimed he didn’t intend to use the gun to put anyone in fear of harm, and that it discharged accidentally, the judge noted.
But the jury – by its verdict – was reasonably satisfied that Kakar armed himself to carry out a robbery at gunpoint and that he fired the gun deliberately, Judge Cahill said.
It also found that Kakar didn’t genuinely believe he had a legal right to the property, and that he took the possessions by “threat of force”.
Kakar pleaded guilty to other charges including being a prohibited person carrying a firearm.
He also admitted to stealing a motorcycle, possessing cocaine and cannabis as well as ammunition, and handling a stolen laptop, headphones, trackie pants and cooler bag while on bail.
Judge Cahill noted Kakar had been largely imprisoned since 2013, but for two six-month stints in 2017 and 2019.
He’d been previously convicted for false imprisonment, armed robbery and robbery, including robbing and assaulting a pizza delivery driver and holding up a servo attendant at knifepoint.
Jail terms hadn’t deterred Kakar from reoffending, the judge noted. His rehabilitation prospects seemed “limited”.
Judge Cahiell accepted there was a link between Kakar’s significant intellectual disability and his offending.
A refugee born in Afghnistan, Kakar spiralled into drug addiction in his teens to block out anxiety, sadness and anger and the effects of childhood violence.
At 19, he was traumatised when he witnessed a bombing in Afghanistan.
Kakar was jailed for up to six years, including a non-parole period of four years.
His term includes 980 days in pre-sentence detention.
