Delayed sentencing for tradie Harrison Hogan after he pleaded guilty to 11 charges

A magistrate has threatened a young tradie with jail for his 11 crimes including two violent fights, but instead gave the ‘angry’ young man some time to reflect on his actions.

A magistrate told a young tradie he was thinking of sending him to jail for his 11 “appalling” crimes, but instead gave the “angry” young man some time to reflect on his actions.

Harrison Hogan, 20, was due to be sentenced in Moss Vale Court on Tuesday after pleading guilty to 11 offences, including using violence to cause fear, affray, larceny and dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception.

The Braemar resident went on a shocking crime spree in the Southern Highlands over the course of two months last year, beginning with a fight outside the Mittagong RSL on July 18.

According to documents tendered to the court, Hogan was involved in a fight between two groups which left one man with head injuries and another with a suspected broken ankle.

Harrison Hogan has been charged with 11 offences over a short period, including a brawl outside a Bowral pub and theft. Picture: Facebook

Not even a month later, Hogan was in another fight with a group of four teens outside a Bowral pub. According to the court documents, Hogan walked out of the pub onto Bong Bong St at around 2am on August 8 and began a brawl with a group of four teenage friends, who he left bruised and bleeding as he ran off.

The court heard the young carpenter then went on to dishonestly gain financial advantage over a South Coast man by offering to sell him an iPhone 11, which he marked as ‘brand new and working fine’. The man agreed to buy the phone for his mother but, when it arrived, the phone was locked by the Coles Group.

Despite Hogan telling the victim he got the phone from a family member, the police facts show the victim called Coles and they confirmed the phone belonged to the company. After weeks of hassling Hogan to return his $514, the victim reported it to police.

Hogan was taken into custody on remand a few weeks later for going on an illegal joy ride through Willow Vale at around 6.30pm on September 20 while riding an unregistered and uninsured child-size motorcycle and not wearing a fitted helmet.

Court documents reveal Mr Hogan’s expired provisional licence had been suspended since June 2019 after he was convicted of driving with drugs in his system.

Despite being disqualified from driving, Hogan then drove to Bunnings in Braemar on the afternoon of September 2 with two passengers. He went into the store and selected a $380 battery charger and asked one of the passengers to put it in the car.

He became aggressive and yelled at Bunnings employee when she stopped him to ask about the charger, but court documents reveal he later told police: “I took it mate”.

He was again busted driving while disqualified on an expired provisional licence on the afternoon of September 12.

Police documents say the carpenter has a “clear disregard for the disqualified status” after being charged with three driving while disqualified offences in only one month.

Hogan’s lawyer Fiona Kay told the court her client’s behaviour was “appalling” and “unacceptable”.

“The community doesn’t want to see this,” she said.

“There’s definitely a problem with anger.”

Magistrate Mark Douglass told the court he was strongly considering sentencing the young tradie to imprisonment for the offences “given the amount of offending of late”.

“He’s right at the edge of going in (to jail) full time,” he said.

Harrison Hogan appeared in Moss Vale court on February 1, 2022. Picture: Wesley Lonergan

However, the magistrate said sending an “angry” young man to prison would not provide the assistance he needs to address his anger issues.

“It seems as though you are a young bloke with significant potential. You have a problem with anger and impulse control,” he said.

“I’m going to give you some time to show you’re over this and you’ve had some time to think about it.”

Instead of sentencing Hogan as planned, Magistrate Douglass adjourned the matter for a few months to allow the tradie to see a counsellor, complete an anger management program, create a mental health plan with his doctor and enrol in rehabilitation.

“We’re doing this to get some guardrails in place, to keep you going in the right direction,” the magistrate said.

Hogan will return to Moss Vale court on May 3 to finalise his sentence.