By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A carjacker who clenched a padlock and struck his male victim twice in the neck has been jailed for up to 12 months.
Dut Dengshok, 29, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to assault and carjacking the silver Mitsubishi 380 in Fifth Avenue in Dandenong on 21 May.
He was found with ice and heroin on his person at the time.
Defence lawyer Adrian Dessi told Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on 1 August that Dengshok had long struggled with a heroin addiction as well as an unsettled adolescence.
He was living in a boarding house at the time of the incident.
Magistrate Jack Vandersteen noted Dengshok’s extensive criminal history of driving, property offences and assaults.
Dengshok hadn’t previously been convicted for carjacking or robbery, the court heard.
The jail term consisted of a five-month non-parole period – and included 71 days in pre-sentence remand.
In imposing a “shorter” non-parole period, Mr Vandersteen factored in the offender’s relatively young age and his need for drug treatment to “stop the cycle of coming before the court”.
