by Cam Lucadou-Wells
A man with an imitation gun who went on a violent, drug-fuelled afternoon of carjacking and theft in Noble Park’s CBD has been jailed.
Josh Imrei, now 31, preyed on five victims in a matter of hours on 1 September 2023, injuring two as he sought to commandeer their cars.
The father of one pleaded guilty at Victorian County Court to eight charges including aggravated carjacking, common law assault and attempted armed robbery.
Imrei’s first victim was driving in an underground car park in Buckley Street.
“Get out of the car, do you know who I am?” Imrei said.
“I’m going to kill you.”
Imrei started choking the seatbelted driver and trying to pull him from the car as they clung to the steering wheel.
In the struggle, Imrei was blocked from grabbing for the car keys in the ignition. He then punched the victim’s jaw several times and kicked him before walking away.
Soon afterwards, Imrei drew a imitation handgun and demanded car keys from a man in a nearby alley way.
Initially panicked, the victim realised the gun was fake and pushed it away from his head.
“Scared you though you dog,” Imrei said as he walked away.
Within minutes in a car park behind 7/11, Imrei waved a gun at a driver and ordered them out of their parked car.
He opened the door and struck the driver in the face with the gun, causing the victim to exit the vehicle.
Imrei got in the driver’s seat, told the victim to “f*** off” and drove away.
The car was later found, crashed into a pole at Cheltenham and Corrigan roads. Its engine was running and still in drive.
The same day, Imrei stole a four-pack of Jim Beam cans from a Keysborough drive-through bottle shop.
The attendant heard one of the cans being cracked open as Imrei walked out.
Police who were on the hunt for Imrei at this stage found him walking along Corrigan Road, drinking from a can.
Imrei resisted arrest, made fists and continually reaching for his imitation gun in his waistband.
Police deployed OC spray during the struggle.
In sentencing on 5 February, Judge Patricia Riddell noted Imrei’s drug-affected attacks were “no doubt frightening” for his victims.
In his erratic and aggressive state, he was also “extremely difficult” to handle for police.
She noted Imrei’s long history of dishonesty, drug, driving and violent offences, including armed robbery and arson.
He’d breached nine previous community corrections orders and spent much of the past eight years in jail.
Judge Riddell also noted he was marked by growing up in disadvantage and neglect as well as afflicted with mental illness.
A self-described “problem child, he’d been a chronic drug and alcohol addict for 20 years.
He’d smoked ice prior to his rampage in Noble Park. Drugs were a factor in much of his criminal history, the judge stated.
Imrei would need structured support, including accommodation, on his release, Judge Riddell said.
His reform was “almost entirely dependent” on conquering his addictions.
Imrei was jailed for up to six years and three months – including 523 days of pre-sentence detention.
He must serve three years, 10 months before eligible for parole.
Aggravated carjacking attracted a mandatory non-parole term of at least three years.
