By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A Dandenong family say their “hearts have been broken” by the fatal shooting of their son, after his killer was jailed for a minimum of three years.
Kamil Yucel, 30, was sentenced for the manslaughter of 20-year-old Dandenong man Rahat Khan at the Supreme Court of Victoria on 5 September.
After months of living in fear of one of Rahat’s associates, the state champion kickboxer shot his victim twice during an angry confrontation in Broadmeadows on 12 July 2016.
Rahat and a friend ran 50 metres to a nearby car. It was only then that the friend realised Rahat was bleeding from a chest wound.
He desperately drove around in search of a hospital before stopping at a shopping centre in Dallas.
Paramedics were called to the scene but were unable to revive Rahat.
The 20-year-old victim’s father Mohin Khan told reporters outside court: “My son, he was innocent. My son, he loved everyone.
“All of my family, all of my children, they are like me – their hearts are broken.”
Justice Lesley Taylor, in sentencing, noted the victim impact statements of Rahat’s father, mother, sister and two brothers.
“In short the family … is shattered.”
Rahat Khan, known as a gifted cricketer and Aussie-Rules footballer at Dandenong North, aspired to play AFL.
His family described him as a loving and caring son and brother – and how his loss had devastated them.
In his victim impact statement, father Mohin wrote: “My heart has been taken away from me.”
Yucel had been in fear of a revenge attack by another man, who he allegedly owed a debt and then was shot by one of Yucel’s associates.
Police had warned him of their concerns about the other man’s intentions.
He had been laying low – spending large amounts of time in Turkey, staying at different places in Melbourne and parking his car away from his dwellings.
He’d known Rahat only as an associate of the man he feared, Justice Taylor said.
On the fateful evening, Rahat and his friend had waited in a car outside Yucel’s brother’s house, where Yucel was staying.
They approached Yucel when he arrived home. During the heated exchange, Yucel told Rahat to “get lost”:
“Don’t make me angry, just walk away … I’ll shoot you.”
Yucel produced a gun. Rahat approached, and Yucel shot twice downwards
Justice Lesley Taylor said Yucel’s fear of being shot was “ongoing, genuine and reasonable”, but made a “regrettable decision” to arm himself with a gun.
The “unusual” circumstances reduced the gravity of Yucel’s acts and his moral culpability, she noted.
Justice Taylor also took into account his “hugely demonstrative” remorse, and his maturity since committing affray and assaults in his early 20s.
“The community should understand that your actions in discharging a firearm in close proximity to another person is denounced by the courts and will result in a substantial term of imprisonment.
“That penalty reflects that your unlawful and dangerous act took the life of another human being.
“The family of Rahat Khan will forever bear the sadness of his death at your hand.”
Yucel was jailed for up to five years, with a minimum non-parole period of three years. His term includes 782 days in pre-sentence detention.
