By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A man who held up drivers at knifepoint during a series of “audacious” carjackings in the South East has been jailed.
Damian Raux, 21, pleaded guilty at the Victorian County Court on 14 December to two counts of aggravated carjacking, theft, aggravated assault and attempted aggravated carjacking.
Sentencing judge Kellie Blair said the victims were left “shaken and frightened” by the “extremely brazen” carjackings in public.
Two of them had been lured by a female accomplice via social media chat.
“Put simply, your offending was audacious and outrageous, and must be sternly denounced by the court.”
In the first act, Raux opened the driver side door of an Toyota Corolla idling at traffic lights at Princes Highway and Wedgewood Road, Hallam in the early hours of 10 January 2021.
He held a 30-centimetre hunting knife to the driver’s throat, and said: “If you don’t get out, I will kill you.”
Raux dragged the man out of the car and felled him with several punches to the head.
He and the female accomplice stole the victim’s wallet, $540 cash, bankcards and a gold iPhone X, then fled in the victim’s car.
A second victim in a Camry had arranged to meet the female via Instagram and to pick up her purported “cousin” Raux at a bus stop in Tristania Street, Doveton on 16 January.
As they drove, Raux held a knife to the driver’s neck and demanded he “stop the car or I will kill you”.
The victim stopped on Kidds Road and ran away as Raux threatened him with a knife. The female and Raux drove away, with the victim unsuccessfully trying to hold onto the driver’s side door.
The Camry was found “extensively damaged” in Lawson Way, Endeavour Hills later that morning. It cost the victim $3000 to repair.
The victim – a refugee from Afghanistan and Uber driver – stated it was the “worst thing that has ever happened to him”, Judge Blair noted. He said he no longer felt safe driving at night.
On 23 January 2021, a third victim was attacked as the female wielded a knife and demanded his BMW car keys near Ascot Park in Pakenham.
Raux punched him to the head and put him in a headlock while the victim yelled for help.
The victim was taken to hospital and underwent surgery for stab wounds – which were not inflicted by Raux.
At the time of offending, Raux was abusing alcohol, cannabis, ice and cocaine. His criminal history of theft, robbery, assault, weapon and breach of bail included stints in jail.
Judge Blair noted Raux’s “difficult” childhood, exposed to domestic violence and “disrupted” living situations.
He was kicked out of home at 15, and spent time sleeping in parks in Melbourne and Dandenong.
The judge found there was “special reason” to not jail Raux for the mandatory minimum three-year non-parole period for aggravated carjacking.
This was his intellectual disability, his autism diagnosis and other psychological vulnerabilities.
The longer Raux spent in custody, the more he was at risk of becoming institutionalised and entrenched with anti-social and pro-criminal values, the court heard.
He was at a high-risk of reoffending. But he had positive rehabilitation prospects, being youthful and with NDIS and family supports, Judge Blair stated.
“I am of the view that community protection in your case can best be achieved by your rehabilitation.”
Raux was convicted and jailed for two years, followed by a two-year community corrections order.
The CCO includes a justice plan prepared by Disability Justice and judicial monitoring.
