by Cam Lucadou-Wells
A mob of burglars from the Dandenong region who stormed into a Pakenham house of sleeping children just before midnight have been sentenced.
Padiet Deng, 25, Kena Ibsa, 24, Bishoy George, 21, and Eric Bizimungu, 24, pleaded guilty at the Victorian County Court to aggravated burglary, theft and possessing cannabis.
Armed with a metal baseball bat and a taser, three of the men smashed a front door window and broke into the Greendale Boulevard house in October 2021.
At the time, three adults and four young children were inside – most of them asleep.
Deng, of Dandenong North, Ibsa, of Noble Park and George, of Hallam demanded the victims’ car keys, wallets and phones, tasering one of the male residents to the neck.
Another victim was later taken to hospital for a cut to the head.
Several times, the occupants pleaded that there were kids in the house. One or more of the offenders replied: “I don’t give a f***.”
Bizimungu, of Dandenong, didn’t enter the house but carried a large bag of cannabis from the premises into the group’s Mazda CX-9.
They fled in the car just as police arrived.
During a high-speed pursuit, the car popped a tyre when it mounted a median strip, then ran a red light, crossed to the wrong side of the road and wrongly traversed roundabouts.
Chased by the Air Wing, the car was abandoned on Princes Highway Officer.
With the help of the Dog Squad, police found the four men in surrounding grassland, and seized the bag of more than 5 kilos of cannabis from the car.
In sentencing, Judge Trevor Wraight said he wasn’t satisfied that quantity of drugs was for a non-trafficking purpose, but noted the group possessed them only for a short time.
The group’s armed and “confrontational” break-in was a serious example of the offence, he said.
They were reckless to people being in the house, and continued undaunted after being told there were children present.
Deng and Bizimungu had extensive criminal histories, including multiple aggravated burglaries.
Their rehabilitation prospects were guarded. Given their youth, they would however be eligible for long parole periods, the judge said.
On the other hand, Ibsa and George had no priors and showed positive signs while out on bail. They were both assessed as suitable for community correction orders.
It would be “counterproductive” to further jail the pair. But given the seriousness of the crime, they required “onerous” CCO conditions, Judge Wraight said.
Ibsa didn’t turn up for the sentencing, reportedly unaware he needed to show.
It prompted Judge Wraight to warn Ibsa’s lawyer that an arrest warrant would be issued if he didn’t front that day.
Deng was jailed for up to four years, four months, with a two year, two month non-parole period. It included 610 days in pre-sentence remand.
Bizimungu received four years jail, with a two year non-parole term. This included 407 days in pre-sentence detention.
Ibsa was sentenced to 118 days jail, which he had already served, plus a three year CCO.
George was jailed for 102 days, already served, plus a three year CCO.
Both CCOs include supervision as well as 200 hours of unpaid work and drug treatment.
