Scott and Andrew Buhagiar, Cameron Astill and Dean Porto plead guilty to kidnapping disabled stroke victim

Four men have pleaded guilty to kidnapping a disabled stroke victim who they chained to a tree and left for dead in bushland near Summerland Point.

Four men will be sentenced in the District Court after pleading guilty to kidnapping a disabled stroke victim before chaining him to a tree in a failed bid to demand money from him.

Scott James Buhagiar, 47, of Narara, and his brother Andrew Neil Buhagiar, 39, of Summerland Point, along with Dean Alexander Porto, 34, of Lake Munmorah, and Cameron Paul Astill, 36, of Canton Beach, faced Wyong Local Court on Tuesday where they each pleaded guilty to one count of taking or detaining a person in company with intent to obtain advantage.

A common agreed set of facts tendered on behalf of each offender states a 50-year-old man, who requires a wheelchair after suffering a stroke, travelled by train to the Central Coast on January 12 last year to visit a friend.

The four men appeared via video link at Wyong Local Court on Tuesday. Picture: file.

The following day the victim contacted Astill to see if he could purchase some `ice’ from him.

The facts state the victim “from time to time would create fraudulent lines of credit” which he on-sold to others for a portion of their value.

A few days prior Astill had introduced the victim to another man for the purposes of such a sale but the man had not been able to activate the credit.

Astill told the victim he didn’t have anything but could organise some drugs before the pair caught a taxi to Canton Beach Sports Club before going to an address at Hamlyn Terrace.

They were met at the address by the Buhagiar brothers and Porto who were in a rented dual cab ute.

The men drove the victim to the Dam Hotel where he played the pokies before getting a taxi to another friend’s house.

The victim was left in a wheelchair after a stroke. (File image)

The facts state 20 minutes later the Buhagiar brothers, Astill and Porto arrived at the friend’s house in the rented ute where they demanded the victim “fix the access codes” to the fraudulent line of credit and demanded he pay them $1200.

They drove him to the Bunnings Warehouse at Lake Haven where one of the men purchased a length of chain.

The facts state Andrew Buhagiar waved a taser at the victim who said “don’t tase me, I’ve got this, you’ll kill me” and pointed to his pacemaker.

“I don’t give a f..k, I’ll kill you right here, I’ll shoot you if I have to,” Andrew Buhagiar told him, lifting his shirt to reveal what appeared to be the butt of a revolver, the facts state.

They took him to the BP at Charmhaven where they purchased a bottle of water and some Smiths chips for the victim before driving towards Summerland Point.

The ute drove through a gate down a bush track before it stopped and the men dragged the victim from the vehicle.

Scott Buhagiar wrapped the chain through the victim’s chair, around his ankle and secured it with a padlock to a tree.

Andrew Buhagiar told the victim “you better hope that girl of yours has that money tomorrow or we’ll be back, and you won’t like it when we come back” before the four men left.

“As it became dark, the victim grabbed his walking stick and began bashing the chain to loosen it,” the facts state.

“He then took the metal bar from his wheelchair arm, and used that too. Around 40 minutes later, the chain gave way and the victim was freed from the tree.”

The man was still chained to his chair and attempted to get closer to a track when he was discovered by someone four-wheel-driving in the area about 11.20pm.

The four men were arrested two days later on January 15 but none of them participated in a recorded interview.

They were adjourned to face Gosford District Court on March 31 to set a sentencing date.