Shane Cokacar loses appeal over Mitcham assault, armed robbery

A Mitcham man held his victim captive for hours while assaulting him with a meat cleaver, threatening to kill him and cut his genitals off. But he argued his jail sentence was “excessive”.

Shane Cokacar admitted to assaulting his victim with a meat cleaver.

A Mitcham painter, who held a man captive for hours while assaulting him with a meat cleaver, has failed to have his jail sentence reduced.

Shane Cokacar restrained his victim, bashed him and threatened to kill him and “cut his d*** off” after his girlfriend lured the victim to Cokacar’s house under the pretence he could pay her for sex, the Supreme Court heard.

Cokacar’s legal team argued the four-year, eight-month jail term he had been given for the crimes committed in November 2017 was “manifestly excessive”, citing the more lenient sentence given to his girlfriend.

Cokacar hit his victim over the head with the meat cleaver and held it to his face.

His lawyer argued the jail term, which included a non-parole period of two years and six months, was excessive for his young age and guilty plea, and claimed the sentencing judge had made a mistake in handing down an aggregate sentence.

The court heard Cokacar was 20 years old on November 17, 2017 when he repeatedly punched the victim, hit him over the head with a meat cleaver, threatened to burn his body and dump it in the bush, and took the man to a Mitcham bank, where he was forced to withdraw $700.

The victim was left needing plastic surgery and ongoing dental work.

Judges Geoffrey Priest and Chris Maxwell refused Cokacar’s attempt to appeal his sentence on August 14, telling the court they were “wholly unpersuaded”.

“This was very serious offending,” Judge Maxwell said.

“Your moral culpability for this offending is high.”

The court heard the sentencing judge had explained the girlfriend was given a sentence of 242 days’ imprisonment and a two-year community corrections order because of the “significant differences” between the pair.

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His girlfriend had tried to stop Cokacar continuously assaulting the victim and had persuaded her boyfriend to let the man go, the court heard.

She had also admitted her offending to police the next day — while Cokacar initially denied it, making up exculpatory explanations for the evidence — and her testimony was “critical” to the case against Cokacar.

The court heard Cokacar had pleaded guilty to false imprisonment, intentionally causing injury, making a threat to kill and armed robbery after his girlfriend had told police of his involvement.

Cokacar, who was a heroin user until he was arrested, also had a “significant criminal history” for a young man, the court heard.

Judge Maxwell agreed with Cokacar’s lawyer that it wasn’t appropriate the offender had been dealt an aggregate sentence for the various crimes, but still dismissed the appeal.