John Leaupepe jailed over Barwon prison attack and kidnapping
A Barwon Prison inmate who was violently bashed by four other prisoners spent 18 days in intensive care being fed-through a tube and was left with a traumatic brain injury, a court has heard.
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A Barwon Prison inmate took part in a brutal bashing that left another prisoner with a traumatic brain injury, a court has heard.
John Leaupepe, 20, fronted the County Court on Monday, where he pleaded guilty to a single charge of recklessly causing serious injury stemming from the 2023 prison assault, and charges of theft, aggravated burglary, kidnapping and common assault stemming from an incident in August 2024.
Judge Sarah Leighfield jailed Leaupepe for a maximum of seven years and four months across both indictments, with a non-parole period of four years.
Leaupepe was serving a seven-month prison term when he joined Tyran Williams, Taiga Yoshida and Justin Amituanai in a “vicious and cowardly” attack on a fellow prisoner in Barwon Prison’s Grevillea Unit on July 20, 2023.
Williams began the attack by punching the victim twice before stepping over him after he fell to the ground and stomping on his head.
Within seconds, the others joined in, surrounding the victim and repeatedly kicking and stomping on him.
Leaupepe also leaned down and punched him several times, the court heard.
The entire assault lasted just 12 seconds, but the victim suffered a traumatic brain injury, facial and skull fractures and chipped and loosened teeth.
Without medical intervention he would have died, Judge Leighfield said.
The victim was flown to the Alfred Hospital and spent 18 days in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
Following the attack, the man required naso-gastric feeding and suffered from post-traumatic amnesia.
While on bail for the prison assault, Leaupepe was one of four offenders who kidnapped a man at gunpoint from a Deer Park home at 4am on August 5, last year.
The victim taken outside and threatened with knife; he broke free but was recaptured, tied up and bundled into a stolen Volkswagen.
While in the car, the victim was again held at knifepoint and was punched and kicked, as the kidnappers took him to a carpark in Coburg.
The man was released after frustrating his assailants’ attempts to extort him of money.
Although it could not proven Leaupepe was one of the three offenders who entered the home, or what his specific role in the kidnapping was, his fingerprints were found on two stolen cars, including the Volkswagen, and his phone was used during it.
He was, Judge Leighfield said, a “willing and knowing” participant in the crime.
The court heard Leaupepe born in Samoa, one of eight children, and moved to Australia when he was 12.
The main mitigatory factors in Leaupepe’s case were his youth, onerous experience in custody due to spending time in solitary confinement, early guilty pleas and strong family support.
He had “guarded” prospects for rehabilitation, given his prior history and “lack of progress” when placed on rehabilative court orders, the court heard.
Leaupepe had 469 days he has spent in custody reckoned as time served.
Originally published as John Leaupepe jailed over Barwon prison attack and kidnapping
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