Eli Robinson to be sentenced for role in Oaklands Park abduction

A victim feared he would be sold into the sex trade after he was lured by an ex-lover to a man’s house, made to strip and bound with cable ties.

A man said he felt like he was in a horror movie after a set up by his ex-girlfriend led to him being bound with cable ties and allegedly threatened with a knife, a court has heard.

According to a victim impact statement read to the Adelaide District Court on Thursday, the man said he feared he would become a victim of human trafficking.

Sarah Powell will be sentenced later this month for assault and theft. Photo: Facebook

Joshua Elmsly has pleaded not guilty to his alleged role in the offending and will face trial in September Photo: Facebook

“During the incident I felt that I was going to die or be sold into the sex trade,” the victim said in a statement read by prosecutor Isabelle Kimber.

“I felt humiliated and terrified, demoralised, dehumanised … I felt as if I were in a horror movie.

“I recently had an invite to a friend’s birthday to go to and had to check with three friends before attending to make sure it was for real and not another set up,” the victim said.

The court heard the victim was lured to Eli James Seymour Robinson’s Oaklands Park house on October 18, 2020, where he was told to strip, before being tied up with cable ties and threatened with stabbing unless he revealed his online banking details.

Robinson, 37, has pleaded guilty to attempted robbery, saying he was bribed with drugs to participate in the victim’s humiliating ordeal.

His co-accused, Sarah Jane Powell, 22, lured the unsuspecting victim to a house, where her boyfriend, Joshua Ross Ecclestone Elmsly, 26, was allegedly waiting with sinister intentions.

Powell pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including detaining a person to commit an indictable offence and theft and will be sentenced later this month.

Another co-accused, Joshua Elmsly, has pleaded not guilty to his alleged role in the abduction and will face trial in September.

About $2400 was allegedly transferred from the victim’s back account into Mr Elmsly’s account.

“Mr Elmsly became aware that the victim had gold in a safe at home, the victim in desperation … said he would get his mum to come to that house,” Ms Kimber said.

The victim called his mother to pick up the key for the safe.

The victim was lured to Mr Robinson’s Oaklands Park home where he was assaulted and robbed. Picture: Gabriel Polychronis/The Advertiser

The court heard Mr Elmsly allegedly threatened the victim with a knife, saying he would put a hole in him for every half-hour he had to wait for his mother to arrive.

However, the victim’s mother and stepfather had called police who arrested Robinson when he went out to hand over the key.

Eli Robinson will be sentenced later this month for attempted robbery. Photo: Facebook

Sam McDonough, for Robinson, said his role in the offending was unusual.

“The victim clearly articulates that Mr Robinson was the only person who showed any kind of kindness to him, in offering a glass of water,” he said.

Mr McDonough said Powell and Mr Elmsly were not friends with Robinson and had not been invited to his house on that occasion.

“He knew nothing about what they were planning to do,” he said.

“Mr Robinson is someone who is afraid of Mr Elmsly generally and in particular in that moment.”

Mr McDonough said Robinson had “serious concerns” that the victim would come to serious harm or death.

“In that context, Mr Robinson decided to try and assist in this matter in an effort to keep further harm coming to the complainant,” he said.

“Mr Elmsly seems to kind of bribe Mr Robinson with a shot of something (drugs) in order to facilitate his assistance.”

Mr McDonough pushed for a suspended sentence due to Robinson’s limited role in the offending and diagnosed schizophrenia.

Judge Jane Schammer will sentence Robinson later this month.