By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS
A man has been jailed after bashing his neighbour in his driveway as well as threatening to kill the victim, the victim’s wife and pet.
Karl Rozmaric denied some of the alleged “utterances” and the “nature of the assault as described” but pleaded guilty at a Dandenong Magistrates’ Court sentence indication hearing on 20 June.
Police prosecutor Senior Constable Chris Capuano told the court that a male neighbour reported Rozmaric screaming and ranting in their shared driveway on 2 June.
As the neighbour remained his house, the accused pointed at the neighbour and called him a “dog”, the court was told.
Police said Rozmaric then threatened to rape the neighbour’s wife in front of the neighbour, and to kill the couple and their cat.
That afternoon, the neighbour was confronted outside at close-range by Rozmaric.
The victim said he pushed out his arm to create some distance and was then punched in the stomach by the accused.
The neighbour was approached by Rozmaric’s mother and accused the victim of punching her son.
As the victim turned to her, he was struck in the eye by either an object or a fist apparently wielded by Rozmaric.
The victim, with a seriously swollen eye, ran into his house and locked the door.
Rozmaric later made partial admissions to Dandenong police that he kicked the neighbour in the groin to “get his attention”.
The accused was also charged over being found with illicit drugs after banging on windows and throwing objects at passers-by on Cheltenham Road, Dandenong, in February.
In July 2014, he sat in the back of a broken-down unregistered Holden without number plates, blocking a lane on the intersection of Thompsons Road and South Gippsland Highway.
A flick-knife was also found in the car.
He was also charged with three counts of cannabis possession and failing to answer bail on separate occasions.
Defence lawyer Arend Slink argued a jail term plus a corrections order would help Rozmaric’s rehabilitation prospects. Several offences were related to drug use.
Magistrate Jack Vandersteen noted Rozmaric was a “serious violent offender” with several priors for threatening to kill and assaulting people, but hadn’t been in trouble for “quite some time”.
Mr Vandersteen advised Rozmaric not to return to the residence next to the victim.
“Your family, employment and mental health are what you need to concentrate on.”
Rozmaric accepted an indication of three months’ jail and 12-month community corrections order in exchange for pleading guilty to charges including recklessly causing injury, assault and threatening to kill.
His corrections order includes drug and mental health programs.
He was convicted and fined $500 on three counts of cannabis possession.
