Cameron Brereton and Dylan Dean jailed over man’s drug debt ordeal

A pair of violent crooks with extensive criminal histories subjected a man to a “frightening, traumatic and embarrassing ordeal” in which he was held captive, beaten and sexually assaulted.

Dylan Dean and Cameron Brereton.

A pair of violent crooks already serving time behind bars will spend more time in jail after a man was held captive, threatened and sexually assaulted in what a judge described as a “cruel spree”.

Dylan Dean, 37, and Cameron Brereton, 39, were sentenced in the County Court by Judge Martine Marich late last week over offending that took place in July 2022.

Brereton previously pleaded guilty to charges of rape, sexual assault, common assault and false imprisonment, while Dean pleaded to charges of common assault and false imprisonment.

The court heard the victim was in Corio looking to source drugs when Brereton got into his car and held a Stanley knife to his throat.

As the man drove, Brereton squeezed his testicles and said “you’re a pretty boy”.

The man was taken to one house, where he was punched multiple times to the head and body, before he was taken to a different address, where Dean was also present.

At this address, Brereton hit the man over the head with a torch multiple times, and held a curved knife against his body.

Dean and a third co-accused, Jarrad Cominie, also punched the victim a number of times.

The victim was left bleeding heavily and blacking out from the assaults, which Judge Marich said was “apparently motivated” by a desire “for vengeance” over an unpaid drug debt the victim owed to Cominie.

Cominie, who played a lesser role and pleaded guilty at an earlier stage, was the only one of the trio who was known to the victim.

Several days later, the victim was subjected to another assault, during which Brereton forced a lighter into his anus.

“It would have been a frightening, traumatic and embarrassing ordeal for (the victim),” Judge Marich said, describing the rape as “an embarrassing, distressing and painful criminal act”.

Of the two, Brereton’s crimes were more serious, the court heard.

“You are a violent and sexually violent individual and represent a danger to the community,” Judge Marich told Brereton.

Dean and Brereton’s guilty pleas were late, with the matter “almost in the door” of a trial.

Judge Marich said she was familiar with the men’s histories, including Cominie, having sentenced them earlier this year on another matter.

The three men are serving jail sentences related to an August 2022 home invasion and attack, involving a separate victim.

Dean and Brereton were jailed for a maximum of five years and three months each over the incident.

Both men already had “extensive” criminal histories, prior to the incident, with Dean having been involved in trafficking ice.

Judge Marich sentenced Dean to a total effective sentence of two years and nine months, a year and three months must be served on top of the head sentence he’s currently serving.

A new non-parole period, covering all sentences, was set at four years and five months.

Brereton was jailed for eight years and three months, four years of which must be served on top of his current head sentence.

Judge Marich set his new non-parole period as six years and seven months, and said she would have jailed him for a decade if he hadn’t pleaded guilty.

Originally published as Cameron Brereton and Dylan Dean jailed over man’s drug debt ordeal