Daniel Ochaya jailed for attacking Darwin house and occupants

After being kicked out of an 18th birthday party for brawling, David Ochaya decided to confront a fellow partygoer the following morning. What the Judge said.

Daniel Ochaya has been jailed after targeting a Darwin residence, assaulting one of the occupants in the process. Source: Facebook.

A young man who terrorised a Darwin residence after being kicked out of an 18th birthday party has been jailed.

Daniel Ochaya, 21, appeared in the Darwin Local Court by video link on Friday, where he was sentenced for aggravated assault, threatening to kill, trespassing and damaging property.

The court heard that on July 20, 2024, Ochaya attended an 18th birthday party in Malak, where he engaged in a brawl with several other guests.

After the fight, Ochaya continued to be aggressive and was directed to leave the premises.

About 7am the following day, Ochaya was dropped off at the residence of one of the partygoers by an unknown driver.

The court heard Ochaya began “yelling and banging” on the front door of the house, screaming that he “got bashed” at the party the night before and wanted to talk to the partygoer about it.

The court heard two other occupants of the house attempted to “calm down” Ochaya, who left the scene before returning with a wooden hockey stick.

The court also heard Ochaya approached one of the occupants who had tried to calm him down, before striking him “three to four times” to the head and upper body, breaking the stick in half.

Ochaya ran back to the vehicle and, as he was driving off, yelled “I’m going to come back” and “I’m going to shoot everyone in the house”.

About 11.30am, Ochaya returned to the residence, where, for about 15 minutes, he used bricks and a wheelie bin to try and break into the house while the occupants retreated into a small room.

Before giving up the siege, Ochaya destroyed the screen and main doors of the house and caused “substantial damage” to a LandCruiser belonging to one of the occupants.

Ochaya was arrested by police that afternoon.

It was heard Ochaya “has some prior offending”, including a serious harm offence which was dealt with by the Supreme Court in 2020.

Judge Alan Woodcock said Ochaya “needs to be deterred”.

“If you keep doing this you’ll spend your life in jail,” he said.

“What a shame – strong, energetic young man with his whole life in front of him, wasting his life because he gets drunk and hurts people.”

Ochaya was handed 18 months imprisonment backdated to July 22, 2024.

Originally published as Daniel Ochaya jailed for attacking Darwin house and occupants