By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS
A 79-YEAR-old Pakenham man told a court he was “trembling in shock” after discovering a man had broken into his home at a retirement village and stolen his car from a locked garage as the victim slept in bed.
The accused Matthew Spokes, 24, of Pakenham, had completed a 30-month jail stint for an armed robbery this year and was on bail at the time of the aggravated burglary, a court heard on 16 November.
In late June, Spokes had forced open the victim’s rear garage door and taken a torch from the unlocked Commodore sedan.
While the victim was asleep, Spokes then entered the home through the unlocked garage door, and stole an iPad and a set of car keys.
A disqualified driver at the time, Spokes used the keys to drive the car away.
He later placed false plates on the car, and was charged with drink-driving and resisting police during his arrest in Traralgon a day later.
Spokes told police he knew someone was home at the retirement village unit but didn’t realise the victim would be 79 years old, Dandenong Magistrates’ Court heard.
In court, Spokes pleaded guilty to 25 charges over a spate of incidents on top of the burglary.
He had headbutted a 31-year-old man in front of a bowls club in Traralgon in May, pulled a large knife and swung it several times at a person, attempted to steal two cars, and punched holes throughout his father’s house while his father was in hospital in April.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, the “scared” and “frightened” 79-year-old man wrote he’d thought he would be “entirely safe” in a retirement village.
At the time, he had trouble calling his daughter about the crime because he was trembling with such shock.
For the following two weeks, the man stayed at his daughter’s home, but has since slept poorly.
“I always thought I’d be totally safe with people around. Now I worry about my security.”
Defence barrister Nicholas Goodfellow told the court the burglary had “haunted Mr Spokes more than anything he’s done”.
Spokes had drafted a letter of apology to the victim, as well as to the magistrate, Mr Goodfellow said.
“This offending reflects someone in the grips of a heavy drug addiction.”
Magistrate Julie O’Donnell said the matter would be transferred to the County Court because a two-year jail sentence was not enough for the aggravated burglary.
She noted the age of the victim, the number of charges and Spokes’ extensive prior criminal history.
“We’ve got a man who’s spent 30 months in prison and then there’s a wave of this offending.
“I can’t see how two years is sufficient.”
Spokes, who had been remanded in custody for the previous 140 days, will face a filing hearing at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on 23 November.
He was also placed on a limited intervention order protecting his father.
