Scott and Andrew Buhagiar, Cameron Astill and Dean Porto to be sentenced over kidnapping disabled stroke victim

The varying degrees of violence from the four Central Coast men who kidnapped a disabled man before chaining him to a tree in his wheelchair and leaving him for dead in bushland has been outlined in court ahead of their sentence.

Defence lawyers of three of the four men who kidnapped a stroke victim in a wheelchair, tied him to a tree and left him for dead in bushland have spoken of drug abuse and traumatic pasts.

Cousins Scott and Andrew Buhagiar, Cameron Paul Astill and Dean Alexander Porto appeared via audio visual link before Gosford District Court on Friday for sentencing submissions before Judge Tanya Bright.

All four men have pleaded guilty to one count of taking or detaining a person in company with intent to obtain advantage.

The victim was tied to a tree in his wheelchair and left for dead.

Scott James Buhagiar, 47, will also be sentence over a charge of supplying a prohibited drug including 83.52g of methylamphetamine with a charge of deal with property proceeds of crime to also be considered on sentence.

Andrew Neil Buhagiar, 39, is also facing back up charges of possess unauthorised pistol and dealing with proceeds of crime.

Porto, 34, of Lake Munmorah and Astill, 36, of Canton Beach, are not facing any other charges.

The sentence submissions focused on the offenders’ pasts, the varying roles each played in the kidnapping offence, time in custody as well as impacts of Covid-19 while in custody.

Porto’s defence was not ready to proceed with his submissions which were adjourned.

A common agreed set of facts on behalf of each offender states a 50-year-old man, who requires a wheelchair after suffering a stroke, travelled to the Central Coast on January 12 2021 and contacted Astill the next day to see is he could buy some “ice”.

Scott Buhagiar is also facing a supply prohibited drug charge.

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.

The facts state that on January 13 the Buhagiar cousins and Porto met up with Astill and the victim in a rented dual cab ute before driving the victim to the Dam Hotel.

The victim caught a taxi to a friend’s house before the Buhagiar cousins, Astill and Porto confronted him where they demanded he “fix the access codes” to the fraudulent line of credit and pay them $1200.

They drove him to Bunnings at Lake Haven where one of the men bought 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 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.

The facts state the victim bashed the chain with his walking stick to break free before using a metal bar from his wheelchair arm. He worked for 40 minutes before the chain gave way and he was able to free himself.

The man was still chained to his chair 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.

The victim was driven to a Bunnings where one of the men bought chain.

Scott Buhagiar’s defence lawyer said while the cousins played a more dominant role in the offence, Andrew’s role was “slightly more elevated” than Scott’s role.

He said Scott, who is from Narara and was on an intensive corrections order at the time of the offence, had a history of trauma and abuse from younger years and mental health issues which he had not dealt with.

“If he engages in therapy and psychological intervention, there’s some hope he can successfully rehabilitate,” he said. “He regrets the situation he was in.”

He said the father of three had a supporting partner and played a role in his childrens’ lives.

Andrew’s defence spoke of his substance abuse, mental health disorders and a marriage breakdown which made his life “spiral”.

His defence lawyer said the father of two, from Summerland Point, had made efforts to rehabilitate while in jail and kept in contact with his children.

When he played down his role in the kidnapping, noting that he did it for the reason of “outstanding sums”, Judge Bright reiterated the offence.

“The vulnerability alone is important, he’s been left in a location where no one was going to find him or assist him,” she said.

The sentence will be handed down in Gosford District Court. Picture: David Swift

“He was fortuitous he was able to release himself.”

Astill’s defence lawyer also said he had tried to seek rehabilitation while in jail and grew up with the “normalisation” of drugs in the household.

“My client had a lesser role … he did feel pressure to become involved,” he told the court.

“However he conceded that he agreed to help.”

He asked Judge Bright to consider an intensive corrections order, saying Astill felt remorseful and pointed to the fact that Astill never made a direct threat against the victim.

The Crown agreed that the Buhagiar cousins were responsible for the physical violence and were not entitled to leniency.

When he noted that Porto was “simply the driver” Judge Bright quickly replied “nothing happens without the driver”.

She said she found Astill and Porto “equally culpable” in their roles.

Porto’s sentence submissions will be heard on August 26, while the four men will be sentenced on September 2.