Scott and Andrew Buhagiar, Dean Porto, Cameron Astill sentenced for kidnapping disabled man

A judge has blasted four men for a “reprehensible disregard” for a disabled man they kidnapped, chained to a tree and left for dead in bushland. See their fate in court.

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

Scott James Buhagiar, 47, of Narara, and his cousin 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 Gosford District Court on Friday after pleading guilty to taking or detaining a person in company with intent to obtain advantage.

Scott Buhagiar also pleaded guilty to supplying methylamphetamine and dealing with the proceeds of crime while Andrew Buhagiar pleaded guilty to additional offences of possessing cocaine, dealing with proceeds of crime and possessing a 3D-printed pistol and ammunition.

Judge Tanya Bright said the wheelchair-bound victim was “vulnerable”, chained to a tree, threatened and abused during the 10-hour ordeal.

The four men were sentenced at Gosford Dirstict Court on Friday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Swift

She said the four men showed “a reprehensible disregard for the welfare of the victim” who was left in an “isolated location where he would have had little prospect of being found”.

Judge Bright said each man had varying roles in the kidnapping but were “responsible” for each other in the “joint criminal enterprise” in which the victim was threatened with a taser and a firearm.

Judge Bright sentenced Scott Buhagiar to four years and 10 months jail with a non-parole period of two years and 10 months. With time already served he will be eligible for release on February 14, 2024.

Andrew Buhagiar was sentenced to four years and seven months with a non-parole period of two years and seven months. He will be eligible for release on November 14, 2023.

Porto and Astill were each sentenced to two years and seven months jail with a non-parole period of one year and seven months making them eligible for release later this year.

A common agreed set of facts, tendered on behalf of each offender, states a 50-year-old stroke survivor, who was confined to a wheelchair, travelled by train to the Central Coast on January 12, 2021 to visit a friend.

The following day the victim contacted Astill to see if he could purchase some “ice” from him and the pair went to an address at Hamlyn Terrace where they were met by the Buhagiars and Porto.

The facts state the men later demanded the victim pay them $1200 for drugs and drove him to Bunnings Warehouse at Lake Haven where they purchased a length of chain.

Scott and Andrew Buhagiar were found with cash and drugs when they were arrested three days later. Picture: file image

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.

The men drove the victim down an isolated track in bushland at Summerland Point before chaining him to a tree where they left him.

“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 three days later with police finding cash, drugs and the 3D-printed pistol during searches of the Buhagiar cousins’ residences.