By Aneeka Simonis
A MAN who brutally assaulted a victim and stripped him half-naked in his Bunyip home has been sentenced to jail along with his co-offender brother.
Michael John Camilleri was last month given a four-and-a-half-year jail sentence for the 2014 aggravated burglary, while his younger half-brother Matthew Gersbeck was sentenced in November last year to 18 months jail time over the assault.
The County Court heard the pair travelled by train to a home on Anderson Street, Bunyip, on 2 August 2014, seeking retribution over a perceived wrongdoing against his partner.
They believed a woman who lived at the house was responsible for having Camilleri’s partner’s child taken from her.
The offenders entered the house and confronted the male victim.
Camilleri punched him to the face, and his brother smashed the victim over the head with a plate.
Camilleri then pulled the victim’s jumper from his head, exposing his upper body before his accomplice tried to hit the victim with a rock.
In fear of his life, the victim managed to free himself and ran out of the house via the rear door, leaving both offenders inside.
He ran to the nearby Bunyip Gippsland hotel where the owner called police after observing the topless victim with a bloodied face and cuts to his feet.
The man was admitted to Warragul Hospital’s Emergency Department.
The court heard the offenders damaged the victim’s home and stole his wallet before walking to Bunyip railway station and leaving town.
Camilleri was arrested the next day after police discovered DNA evidence at the scene and tracked the offender’s Myki travel history to Bunyip.
In a victim impact statement, the victim’s mother said she was forced to leave the home due to feeling unsafe as a result of the incident.
She’d lived in Bunyip for 30 years.
She said her son’s health had deteriorated as a result of the offending.
Camilleri was sentenced in the County Court on 22 September with a four-and-a-half year jail term with a three-year non-parole period.
The court heard he had a substantial criminal history involving violent and drug-related offending.
His co-accused relative was sentenced on 27 November 2015 to 18 months’ imprisonment for the charge of aggravated burglary.
Gersbeck was sentenced to a total of 22 months’ imprisonment. The other charges included making threats to kill, unlawful assault and possession of a controlled weapon.
Judge John Carmody took into consideration Gersbeck’s lesser criminal history and Camilleri’s role as the “principal offender” in relation to the aggravated burglary.
At the time of sentencing, Camilleri had served 504 days in pre-sentence detention.
