Clarinda man front court over drugs, stolen power tools

A Clarinda man with a 71-page rap sheet has been given another chance to turn his life around, despite authorities calling for jail time.

Daut Handanovic fronted Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court over drugs possession and stolen power tool charges.

A career criminal with a whopping 71-page rap sheet has been given another chance to get his life on track.

Daut Handovic, from Clarinda, was caught selling stolen power tools via his Facebook page just four months after a magistrate had given him a chance to go straight.

The 38-year-old was placed on a community corrections order in June after he stole a $10,000 car from outside its owner’s Mt Waverley home by hiring a tow truck to haul the vehicle back to the home he shares with his parents.

Handanovic pleaded guilty at the Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court on Monday, December 14, to handling stolen goods, dealing with the proceeds of crime, drug possession and breaching his community corrections order.

Police searched his home after distinctive tools reported stolen in August from a Cranbourne West construction site were listed for sale on Handanovic’s Facebook page.

The search revealed about 75 stolen power tools all marked or engraved with different names.

Detectives also found a small room at the back of the garage which was secured with an alarm and CCTV cameras.

The room contained a Samurai sword, zip lock bags with nearly 30g grams of crystal meth, a prescription bottle of Valium, a notebook and digital scales, glass pipes and syringes.

Handanovic was at home with two friends at the time of the raid, despite a prohibition on gatherings due to coronavirus restrictions.

Handanovic was arrested at the scene and has spent 67 days in custody since then.

His defence lawyer, Sam Tovey, called for his client to be given another chance to avoid a jail term, saying Handanovic had been doing well on the order until his father was hospitalised for a heart attack causing him to relapsed.

“He did not deal with the stress of that situation (and) his use escalated substantially,” he said.

“There is a genuine desire to get out of this lifestyle, after so many years bouncing in and out of (the prison) system, now a man in his middle age who has wasted the best part of half his life.

“He just doesn’t have the tools to do it … but he’s trying and he’s genuine about it.

“The time served (on remand) is more than enough for what he’s done.”

However, the police prosecution said Handanovic’s history of breaching community corrections orders meant a prison term was justified.

“He has been given numerous opportunities by way of CCO and suspended sentences and continually breached those,” he said.

“The court is constantly trying to help this man rehabilitate and he keeps breaching any kind of order that he’s given.

“There has to be a time where punishment has to come into it.

“If you give him another CCO, you’re setting him up to fail.”

Vanessa Hopkins, from Corrections Victoria, said Handanovic had a “perfect history of noncompliance” and recommended the CCO imposed in June be cancelled and he be re-sentenced.

Handling stolen goods carries a maximum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment.

Magistrate Stephen Lee said community corrections orders were “not like confetti being handed out for people to breach them all the time”.

Handanovic also pleaded guilty to several speeding offences, including travelling at 142km/h in a 60km/h zone, which carries a mandatory two-year loss of licence.

Mr Lee sentenced him to two and a half months’ jail and a 12-month community corrections order, which includes drug, alcohol and mental health counselling.

“Corrections say you don’t deserve a CCO, that you’re not worthy ... I’m saying you are worthy, but you are paying a price because when I gave you the same benefit in June, you didn’t make good the court’s trust in you,” he said.

“It does mean though, that you have a fresh CCO — there’s your fresh start.

“There’s your opportunity, if you want it, to try and build upon the time you spent in prison where you’ll be drug-free.

“Do the best you can to try and separate yourself from the criminal lifestyle you’ve had for so many years.”

His license was cancelled for two years.