Benjamin Walker sentenced for detaining men for 15 hours in crawl space of Cringila unit

The man and three mates demanded $9000 from their two victims, who they kept in the ‘crawl space’ of a Wollongong unit and beat with nunchucks and a tomahawk during a 15-hour ordeal.

A Wollongong man has been jailed for more than five years after he and three mates were found guilty of kidnapping two men and keeping them locked in a small crawl space for about 15 hours over a botched drug deal.

Benjamin John Walker, 45, was sentenced in Wollongong District Court on Friday following a two-week trial in January this year.

Judge Andrew Haesler imposed a head sentence of five years and nine months, with a non-parole period of three years and six months backdated to October 12, 2020.

Cheyne Benjamin Morley, Benjamin Walker, Tara Clare and Ilo Ilievski were each found guilty of detaining Brendon Merrett and Mitchell Clark inside a Cringila unit with intent to obtain financial advantage after they demanded the men give them $9000.

The jury found the mates had caused one of the men, Merrett, actual bodily harm.

Wollongong’s Benjamin Walker was sentenced in Wollongong District Court on July 8, 2022, after he and three mates kidnapped two men and kept them in a crawl space in a Cringila unit for 15 hours in 2020. They demanded $9000 over a drug deal gone wrong. Picture: Facebook

Ilievski and Clare were already sentenced in Wollongong District Court. Morley was due to be sentenced on Friday but his case was not ready to proceed and it was adjourned until August 2.

The court heard Morley and Clare, together with Merrett, drove from Wollongong to Wiley Park in Sydney to purchase methamphetamine from a supplier on May 12, 2020.

There was a shortage of the drug ‘ice’ in Wollongong at the time and Merrett contacted his friend, Mitchell Clark, who provided a supplier to the group.

A meeting was arranged and Morley, Clare and Merrett handed over $9000 in exchange for what they thought was ice. But Morley soon realised he had been “ripped off” and in fact given bath salts instead of drugs. Morley held Merrett responsible.

Merrett contacted Clark to request he pay back Morley because he connected them to the supplier, and had recently cashed out $10,000 of his superannuation under Covid assistance rules.

Clark refused to meet Merrett at Morley’s unit but instead they met up at a petrol station in Cringila. Morley picked up Walker along the way with Merrett also in the car.

Once at the petrol station, Walker got into Clark’s car and told him to drive to Morley’s unit on Monteith Street, Cringila.

Ben Walker along with his co-accused Tara Clare and Ilo Ilievski were sentenced in Wollongong District Court. Picture: Dylan Arvela

Merrett and Clark were ordered into the unit where they were told they were not allowed to leave until the debt was paid.

The court heard Walker used silver nunchucks to hit Clark, causing a bruise but no significant injury, while Morley used the side of a tomahawk to beat the men on the legs.

Merrett told the court Morley hit him four times in the knee and he felt something “pop” and believed it was fractured because it immediately swelled up, and he was in a large amount of pain and discomfort.

Clark complied with the demands for money quickly, and transferred $1050 from his bank account before contacting his mother, who sent him another $2500.

Merrett refused to call his family and ask for money prompting Morley and Walker to repeatedly ask how he was going to “sort it out”.

Clark was angry Merrett refused to help them get out of their situation.

Clark and Merrett were then pushed into a storage area through a manhole in the wall and told to keep quiet.

Clark was allowed out to smoke cigarettes and ice because he had complied with the demands for money but told the court, “I always had to go back in”.

Clare gave them pastries and a bottle of water at one point.

Morley and Ilievski occasionally came to the door to see if the men had come up with solutions on how to repay them.

The court heard Walker threatened to “chop up” Merrett and his family if he did not come up with the money.

At one point, Merrett was dragged outside and Morley repeatedly hit him in the face causing swelling and facial fractures which only stopped when Walker said people might see the assault.

Eventually Merrett agreed to sign over his car.

Merrett was then allowed to leave about 4pm after being kidnapped about 1am, with Clark leaving about an hour after him.

Meanwhile, police had set up a task force to find the men after Clark’s family members had notified officers he was being detained.

The men eventually gave statements to police and the four mates were arrested and charged.

In court, Judge Haesler said Walker was used to make Clark comply with going to the house because he was a large and muscular man and had been an “unwelcome guest” in the car at the petrol station.

He also noted Walker used a weapon but it was Morley who caused actual injuries.

“Walker was subordinate to Morley,” Judge Haesler said. “He played an active role in the initial assault and intimidation and was part of the joint criminal enterprise.

“The threats were reinforced with weapons in the lounge room of the flat and the men were then put into the storage area.

“Walker did act to moderate Morley’s actions but not for altruistic reasons, but rather he intended to prevent them being discovered.”

The court heard Walker was on parole at the time of the kidnapping, having only been released from prison less than two weeks prior and instead of seeking family support he had turned back to drugs and fallen into company with Morley.

Growing up, Walker was gifted at rugby league but did not enjoy school and in his late teenage years turned to drugs.

He led a life of supplying drugs to fund his addiction and any additional money he had was spent gambling, Judge Haesler said.

Walker has three children who he has no contact with when he is in prison but he still had the full support of his parents who pledged to help him stay away from the Illawarra, find accommodation and a job upon his release from custody.

Walker disclosed to a psychologist he had suffered two incidents of sexual abuse as a child which contributed to his drug abuse and mental health issues.

Judge Haesler noted Walker’s childhood trauma, adding he would need to complete drug rehabilitation courses while in custody and need support upon his release to stay clean and seek mental health treatment.

The court also heard Walker had been stabbed with a shiv while in prison which left him with a non-life threatening injury but meant he was in protective custody which made his time in custody more difficult.

Those onerous conditions were in addition to Covid lockdown and quarantine restrictions in jails.

Judge Haesler said Walker’s sentence must seek to acknowledge the harm caused to the victim and deter anyone else from this type of offending, noting Walker had only accepted some responsibility for his actions.

Walker will be eligible for release to parole on April 24, 2024 and will have to serve a period of parole for two years and three months, with the total sentence expiring on July 11 2026.

“I really don’t want to see you again,” Judge Haesler said as parting words to Walker.