By Cam Lucadou-Wells
It was “hard to understand” why a young man took part in a shotgun-firing rampage through seemingly random homes in the South East, a County Court judge has remarked.
Jordan Fiscalini, 20, of Wantirna South, pleaded guilty to charges relating to the night of mayhem in Dandenong South, Frankston and Lysterfield in February 2020.
His offences including two counts of discharging firearm at premises recklessly, possessing a firearm as a prohibited person and aggravated burglary.
It started off with Fiscalini and a co-accused man stopping in a Commodore with stolen plates on the side of Eastlink near the Greens Road exit at Dandenong South.
One of them crouched and fired a sawn-off shotgun at a 45-degree angle across the city-bound lanes.
Later that night, the pair forced open a unit’s front door in Frankston.
One of them carrying the shotgun said “Who held a gun to my missus’ throat” and punched a resident in the mouth.
He struck the victim to the head with the butt of the gun, then fired it over the victim’s head through a laundry window.
The pair hotfooted to a nearby unit, where their banging on a glass sliding door awoke the residing couple.
As the husband investigated, the shotgun was fired through the glass. His arm was struck by debris.
Fiscalini and his co-accused jumped a fence and fled.
An hour later, they preyed on a household comprising a man and his 60-year-old parents in Lysterfield.
One of the co-accused broke a glass panel in order to try to unlock the front door.
As the residents struggled to keep the door closed, one of the intruders pointed a gun through the gap of the door.
The occupants took cover as the gun was fired into the brickwork above the door.
Judge Carolene Gwynn said that Fiscalini was a follower rather than a leader in what was “very dangerous” offending.
It was a “little hard to understand” why the night’s events happened, the reasoning seemed “unclear”, Judge Gwynn said.
And it was fortunate the outcome was not more serious, she said.
The “unsuspecting, apparently innocent and vulnerable” victims were entitled to feel safe in their homes.
Eighteen months on, terrified victims described being unable to sleep and unwilling to leave home. One was haunted by the image of a person holding a gun.
She sentenced Fiscalini not on the basis that he was the gunman or that he carried the gun.
But that he was complicit, knowing there was a gun and that it was likely to be used from the first shot fired across Eastlink.
Judge Gwynn noted the young father’s extensive criminal history. He’d just been released from jail prior to the recent offending.
He faced a more burdensome jail term due to his low intellect, deprived and traumatic upbringing and mental health issues.
Fiscalini was stabbed by his co-accused during a court committal hearing, the judge noted.
The co-accused is still to face trial over the matter.
Fiscalini was jailed for up to five years and 10 months, with a non-parole period of three-and-a-half years. The early parole eligibility period was to help his transition to the community.
His term included 514 days served in pre-sentence remand.
