Conner Kennedy, Jesse Brooks jailed over crime sprees, threatening woman

A five-year-old boy who begged two thieves not to hurt his mother is traumatised by the incident, and still asks if the “bad guys” are after him, a court has heard.

Connor Kennedy and Jesse Brooks.

A pair of violent recidivist offenders have been jailed over crime sprees that included threatening a woman in front of her child.

Connor Kennedy, 23, and Jesse Brooks, 26, fronted the Geelong Magistrates Court via prison link from Metropolitan Remand Centre for sentencing on Tuesday.

Both men had earlier pleaded guilty to numerous charges across individual crime sprees, linked by one violent incident on August 1 last year.

On that date, the two men went to a home on Jay St in Norlane, threatening a woman with a knife and fake gun in front of her mother and five-year-old son, who begged them not to hurt her.

A neighbour who came to investigate was also assaulted.

In sentencing the pair, magistrate Gerard Bryant said there was “little point” in endeavouring to determine who was more culpable, describing the pair’s conduct as a “joint criminal enterprise”.

The pair’s actions were “nothing short of outrageous” and the experience “would have been a terrifying” one for the victims, he said.

“The visual image of a five-year-old boy on his knees, praying for the safety of his mother I think is a compelling image,” Mr Bryant said.

“(It) paints an awful picture of violence and criminal behaviour that seems to be so prevalent in today’s society.”

Mr Bryant told the court the time Brooks and Kennedy had spent in custody were not enough and they ought to serve “significant” sentences, mitigated by their pleas and the submissions made on their behalf by their defence lawyers.

He jailed Kennedy for two years, minus the 278 days he has already spent behind bars, with a non-parole period of one year.

Brooks was jailed for 12 months, less 267 days time served, but will be released onto a 12-month community corrections order (CCO) separately imposed by the County Court in April.

On Tuesday, police prosecutor senior constable Denise Frame read out two victim impact statements written by the victim and her mother.

The victim described the impact the August 1 incident had on her now-six-year-old son.

She said the boy spent weeks afterwards with night terrors, asking if “the bad guys are coming back”.

He has since been diagnosed with PTSD and anxiety, and had struggled at school and daycare, the court heard.

“I hate that my child, at now six, asks if the bad guys are coming to get him,” the woman wrote.

“He lives in fear … a child doesn’t deserve to have that fear.”

The woman’s mother, and boy’s grandmother, wrote, in her own statement that her life and personality had changed “drastically” since the episode.

She said she now battles panic attacks and mistrust in people, and can’t rid herself of the image of her grandson on his knees, begging through tears for Brooks and Kennedy not to hurt his mother.

She said she had “never experienced the level of fear and helplessness” she felt that day.

Brooks, who had also pleaded to several driving charges, was also disqualified from driving for 18 months.

Originally published as Conner Kennedy, Jesse Brooks jailed over crime sprees, threatening woman