By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A fourth man has been jailed over a “terrifying” violent extortion of a kidnapped Sandown Park Motel guest in 2019.
Moana Ulutui, 25, formerly of Cranbourne, pleaded guilty in the Victorian County Court to extortion with threat of injury, common law assault and theft – after three associates were found guilty by a jury last year.
The group including James Tonkin, Dusan Javanov and Krishneil Chand had tried to demand a $30,000 ransom from the abductee’s parents over a 24-hour period in April 2019.
The victim was detained at two houses, tied to a chair, threatened with weapons, sedated and beaten.
Ulutui and his co-offenders viewed the victim as an “easy target”, someone with access to money from his parents, Judge Patricia Riddell said in sentencing on 29 June.
He had befriended Tonkin during drug addiction rehabilitation in late 2018 but had a falling-out after the victim felt he was being used for money.
Months later, the victim shouted Ulutui and a man named ‘Leon’ to a session of ice smoking and gambling on pokies at the motel.
The next day, the victim was picked up from Waverley Gardens shopping centre in a car by Tonkin and driven to an unknown address.
Chand and Javanov tied him to a chair with ropes and cables, gagged him and struck him multiple times to the face and head.
On the floor were several tools such as an axe, crowbar, lump hammer, hammer and hand tools. The victim was asked to pick one.
In fear for his life, he chose the crowbar – which was then held against his knee in a threatening way.
Ulutui took a “lead role” in a series of video calls to extract money from the victim’s parents.
The tied-up victim was beaten while being coerced – at times at knifepoint – to plead for money for his release.
Ulutui fabricated a story that the victim owed him $30,000 for breaking into Ulutui’s home and stealing Rolex watches and a car.
He also stole the victim’s phone and took a screen shot of a list of accounts and passwords on the device.
Without Ulutui’s involvement, the victim was taken to a children’s bedroom in a second house in Hampton East and sedated with drugs.
He escaped in a taxi that pulled up near the unit. He was driven to hospital with a burst ear drum and injuries to his eyes, nose, lips and shoulder.
Judge Riddell said it was no doubt a “terrifying ordeal” for the victim, who has since been diagnosed with PTSD and anxiety.
“I feel as though I am not the same person as I was,” the victim stated.
The victim’s father described the 24 hour kidnapping as “without doubt the most intense stressful period of my life”. He said he had been in constant fear for his son’s safety.
Judge Riddell said she accepted that the events were “every parent’s worst nightmare”.
Tonkin, Javanov and Chand were found guilty of kidnapping plus the same charges as Ulutui by a County Court jury. They were each jailed for at least four years with parole periods.
Ulutui’s lesser role, youthfulness, violent upbringing, long-held substance addictions, mental-health hospital admissions and a recently-diagnosed intellectual disability were taken into account.
The father of one had “not surprisingly” a significant history of crime and detention.
But he had not been given the chance of therapeutic court orders, Judge Riddell noted.
His record told of a “young man out of control” with a “lack of supervision, guidance, love and care from any adult in your life”.
There were signs that Ulutui, who had no work history, was becoming more comfortable in prison than out.
Now eligible for NDIS support, his rehabilitation – a “guarded” prospect – depended on his substance and mental health issues being addressed.
This would ultimately benefit the community, Judge Riddell said.
He was jailed for two years and three months, with a 27-month treatment-based community corrections order.
The prison term includes 543 days in pre-sentence custody – meaning Ulutui will be released in about nine months.
