By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A burglary gang used heat-sensing radar to search for cannabis crop houses, including a family home in Keysborough, before raiding them in the early hours.
Five masked men forced open the front door of the Thurbro Drive home about 3am on 17 January 2019, Victorian County Court judge Carolene Gwynne said during sentencing on 1, 2 and 3 September.
A pregnant female was home as the intruders took bags of cannabis, a phone and $1000 from her purse.
They fled in two getaway cars with false plates, leaving a trail of cannabis from the damaged front door to the driveway.
The female declined to give information to police officers.
Shortly after, the offenders drove onto their next target in Chadstone.
According to covert recordings, they were confronted and fled from a “large Aussie bloke” at the home’s front door who was “not a nip”.
Police arrived, finding 15 cannabis plants in the garage and rear shed. Again, the occupant gave no information to police.
The crew had plans for three further break-ins that morning. But they were thwarted by police during an attempted intercept in Preston.
In all, seven offenders were charged and pleaded guilty to up to eight “sophisticated” and “highly organised” break-ins.
On several occasions, they wielded crowbars and garden shears as they confronted occupants.
The most serious was an aggravated home invasion in Sunshine North in 2018 in which a male occupant was ordered to lie on the floor by two masked intruders. He was threatened with garden shears and a crowbar.
A large TV, iPhone and purse were stolen. No cannabis was at the premises.
The first “foray” was a brief, unsuccessful aggravated burglary in Huxley Avenue Mulgrave in September 2018.
As part of the gang’s “research”, a car with a forward-looking infrared radar (FLIR) would scan for heat spots in houses – an indication that indoor-heated crops were inside.
Police observed a car scanning for potential targets in Noble Park, Springvale South and Dingley in an early morning in December 2018.
There was no identifiable leader or instigator, and different teams of offenders took part in each break-in, Judge Gwynne noted.
The offenders would have known that victims were unlikely to report the burglaries to police, she said.
Police launched an “equally sophisticated” investigation including car bugs, phone taps, CCTV, traffic cameras and phone records, she said.
Rhys Abela-Rogers, 20, with no prior offending, was charged with all eight break-ins and trafficking cannabis.
The “talented” junior footballer had confronted several victims, including in the Sunshine North home invasion.
He was jailed for up to seven years, 11 months. He will be eligible for parole after five years.
Charlie Farrugia, 21, was involved in five burglaries and trafficking cannabis. He was on a community corrections order at the time but with “relatively limited” criminal history.
He was jailed for five years and 11 months, with a non-parole period of at least three years and 10 months.
Abdulahi Ali, 22, and Dylan Farrugia, 24, pleaded guilty to charges relating to five and six of the break-ins respectively. They had not been directly involved in violent confrontations with occupants.
Dylan Farrugia, on a good-behaviour bond at the time, was jailed for up to six years and nine months. He will be eligible for parole after four years and four months.
Ali, with a more “troubling” criminal record, was sentenced to six years and seven months’ jail, with a non-parole period of at least four years and four months.
Getaway driver Damien Monro, 25, and Jake Synan, 23, pleaded guilty to taking part in the final night of the “high-end, prolific” spree, including the Keysborough agg burg.
Monro, who had been on bail at the time, was jailed for up to four years, and eligible for parole after two years and eight months.
Synan was jailed for up to three years, seven months. His non-parole period was at least two years and two months.
All offenders’ jail terms, except for Synan, include 593 days already served in pre-sentence remand.
One other, Jackson Balshaw, is yet to be sentenced.
