A Dandenong armed robber’s appeal against his jail sentence has been refused by the Victorian Court of Appeal despite his self-described “spectacular rehabilitation”.
Allem Sabitovic, now 34, was among a group that violently robbed at knifepoint a 57-year-old man who had been driving around St Kilda seeking services from a street sex worker in early 2021.
The victim had spoken to Sabitovic’s girlfriend on a street corner and she lured him to an apartment’s courtyard.
Armed with a box cutter, Sabitovic and two co-offenders ambushed the victim, chased him and pinned him to the ground.
They stole his wallet, car key, phone, gold chain, watch and bracelet while holding knives to his throat and threatening to stab the screaming man.
During the attack, the victim was kicked and stomped to the head.
The victim later approached Sabitovic at the flats, asking for his gold chain back due to it being a gift from his mother.
Sabitovic swung the boxcutter towards him and stole his gold bracelet.
The victim was later treated by paramedics for a laceration and bruising in the shape of a shoe print to his head.
Sabitovic – who was on bail at the time – and his girlfriend were arrested at a premises in Dandenong.
On appeal, Sabitovic argued that his original County Court sentence of two-and-a-half years’ jail – including a one year, four month non-parole period – was manifestly excessive.
His lawyer submitted that his offending was correlated to drug addiction. And that he’d since made a “spectacular rehabilitation” since a 16-week residential drug rehab while on bail.
Upon his rehab in 2021, Sabitovic complied with bail conditions, was abstinent for at least two years and become carer for his grandmother.
In the original sentencing, the County Court judge had stated there was “no other alternative” than further imprisonment due to the serious offending.
This was despite Sabitovic’s “impressive” efforts at rehabilitation and the risk that jail would undo his “excellent” progress.
On appeal, Justices Karin Emerton and David Beach noted Sabitovic’s “substantial criminal history” dating back to 2007 when he started using methylamphetamine.
His priors included thefts, burglaries, bail offences and breaching court and parole orders, they stated.
The appeal judges stated that Sabitovic had received a “moderate” sentence that was “well within range”.
“To have imposed any lesser sentence for this serious and violent offending (notwithstanding the powerful mitigating circumstances present in this case) would have risked permitting the sentencing purpose of rehabilitation to overwhelm the sentencing synthesis.
The non-parole period was less than 6 per cent of the 25 year maximum penalty, they noted.
Sabitovic’s jail term included 211 days of pre-sentence detention.
