Criminal Victorian tradies: Heath Ross, Cassius Canfield, Luke Cintolo, Patrick Succar and more
Some of these Victorian tradesmen went so far off-level that they got boxed off and landed plumb in the slammer. See the list.
Melbourne City
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A sicko sparky joins a rapist mechanic, a drug dealing painter, an intruder chippy and a child-grooming brickie to have their criminal deeds boxed off at court.
DRUGGED DEALER PLUMBER BACKED BY AFL MATE
Drug-trafficking plumber Cassius Canfield avoided a jail stint after he was given a glowing reference from AFL premiership star Brandon Ellis.
Cassius Canfield was sentenced in the County Court in July 2021 to a three-year Community Correction Order after pleading guilty to cultivating and trafficking cannabis.
Canfield was busted at his rented Keilor East home early on February 27, 2020.
Investigators discovered a hydroponic set up with eight plants growing in the rear garage of the Wunnamurra Drive house.
Police also seized almost 3kg of harvested and loose cannabis, more than 60g of speed, some cocaine and heroin, deal bags, 11 mobile phones, computers and $12,650 cash.
Police also raided Canfield’s Keilor East factory where they discovered a second hydroponic set up with six plants weighing almost 20kg.
Canfield, who also pleaded guilty to theft of electricity, was arrested, charged and bailed.
The court heard Canfield is a qualified plumber and co-director of heating and aircon company Brofield Group.
Ellis, a top-flight Gold Coast Suns defender, joined the virtual court link for his pal at the 2021 plea hearing after tendering a reference backing Canfield.
Judge Michael Cahill said Ellis knew Canfield from a young age and the former Richmond premiership hero was confident his mate would commit no further “wrongdoing”.
Canfield was also ordered to serve 250 hours of community work and undertake drug treatment.
CHILD GROOMER BRICKIE
Lower Plenty bricklayer Dean Aitchison flew to Manila to meet a 13-year-old girl he had groomed for sex.
Aitchison was sentenced in the County Court in April 2021 to three months’ jail after pleading guilty to groom a child to engage in sexual activity outside of Australia.
Aitchison was intercepted at Melbourne Airport after flying home from Manila in April 2019.
Authorities, who quizzed Aitchison and searched his mobile phone and a storage device, discovered Facebook Messenger chats between him and a Filipino child.
The chats included images of the child in her underwear and semi-naked photos of Aitchison, the court heard.
Authorities also discovered images of Aitchison with other Filipino children and adults taken inside a hotel room.
Aitchison gave a “no comment” interview and was released without charge.
However, Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team investigators raided Aitchison’s Lower Plenty home in December 2019.
Police, who seized and gained access to various devices, discovered more Messenger chats between Aitchison and others including a Filipino adult known to the victim.
Aitchison told police his victim loved him and he loved her.
“So I’ve been sending some money to her … help out there,” Aitchison said.
Bank records revealed Aitchison transferred $23,041 to the Philippines between December 2018 and December 2019.
Judge Duncan Allen said there was an “appalling atrociousness” to the offending.
“ (Aitchison targeted) a vulnerable impoverished young Filipino girl desperate for money,” Judge Allen said.
Aitchison, who was made a registered sex offender for 15 years, was jailed for a maximum two years and nine months but was released on a 33-month good behaviour bond after serving three months.
PARTY DRUG DEALER PAINTER
Painter Luke Cintolo was caught with almost 10kg of a killer party drug linked to rave deaths, overdoses and sexual assaults.
Cintolo was sentenced in the County Court in December 2020 to a minimum two-year jail term after pleading guilty to trafficking a commercial quantity of 1,4 butanediol.
Cintolo was busted after police intercepted him during a traffic stop at Highett just before 2pm on January 2, 2020.
Police searched Cintolo’s Great Wall ute and seized 270g of “bute” and two tabs of MDMA Cintolo had earlier claimed the vehicle wasn’t his.
Investigators raided Cintolo’s Carnegie unit and seized more than 9kg of bute from two Refresh branded bottles hidden inside a suitcase.
Police also seized an extendible baton, measuring devices and 35ml containers.
Cintolo initially played down his racket telling police he was just a “drug user”.
“I’m weaning myself off mils (sic) of 1,4B,” he said.
“I’m on the arse end of an addiction and slowly, but surely, I’m … kinda beating it but it’s bit by bit.”
Cintolo told police the MDMA tabs were an energy hit “guarana-type thing” that “you buy from the bloody chemist”.
Cintolo denied any knowledge of the bottles which contained the bute despite the drugs located in a suitcase by his bed.
Cintolo was jailed for a maximum of three years and six months.
SICKO SPARKIE
Bendigo electrician Heath Ross sexually assaulted a child multiple times, leaving his victim with mental health issues.
Ross was sentenced in the County Court in May 2021 to a minimum three-year and three-month jail term after pleading guilty to multiple rolled-up sexual penetration of a child under 16 charges
Ross was 22 when he commenced his offending against his 14-year-old victim.
The court heard the pair messaged each other via Facebook after meeting at a function in 2011.
”Have you done anything before?,” Ross asked his victim.
The girl said she hadn’t contemplated sex but would consider “making out”.
“What about other stuff,” Ross said.
Ross sexually penetrated his victim in various locations multiple times over a 14-month period, and did not use a condom.
A lewd assault occurred after Ross had just finished soccer training.
The court heard Ross led the girl away from “other men” just after their training session had ended.
“Follow me,” Ross said.
He took the girl to a secluded spot at the ground and assaulted her.
In another incident Ross had anal sex with the girl which left the victim with injuries.
The victim also vomited after Ross made her perform oral sex during another incident.
Ross told the girl he thought his girlfriend was “suspicious” but he continued to assault his victim.
In another incident Ross made the girl give him oral sex and he ejaculated in her mouth.
“Good job,” Ross told his victim.
In her victim impact statement, the girl said she was “living a normal life until” Ross came “into her life”.
The victim said Ross stole her “independence, innocence and self-esteem”
She said she “felt ashamed” but figured that’s what relationships were about.
The victim said Ross taught her what “he wanted”.
The victim also suffered “emotional trauma” which led to physical and mental health issues.
Ross was interviewed by police in 2013 but wasn’t arrested until last year.
The court heard Ross was a “dedicated” father of two who came from a good family.
Ross started his electrician business Get Sparked Electrical about 10 years ago after leaving Bendigo Secondary College, the court was told.
The court heard Ross, via his business, sponsored several community organisations.
“You exploited her for your selfish, carnal satisfaction,” Judge Michael Cahill said.
“You were well aware it was wrong.”
Ross, who was made a registered sex offender for life, was jailed for a maximum six years and three months.
CHIPPY COKE KING
Carpenter Patrick Succar was exposed as a drug kingpin after police found a stack of cocaine, ecstasy, guns and cash at his Reservoir home.
Succar was sentenced in the County Court in December 2020 to a minimum three-year and six-month jail term after pleading guilty to trafficking a commercial quantity of drugs.
Succar’s card was marked after he attempted to post almost a half a kilo of cocaine to a location in Sydney on December 12, 2018 using the alias ‘James Borg’.
The package was intercepted by an Australian Border Force officer before tapped Succar’s phone then raided his home on February 5, 2019.
They seized another 660g of cocaine, 478 ecstasy tablets, a range of steroids and prescription medications and almost $350,000 stuffed in a sports bag and shopping bag.
Police also discovered more than 2kg of a precursor chemical used to manufacture drugs including meth and an arsenal of guns including a loaded semi automatic handgun, a rifle and .38 revolver.
The court heard Succar ran a successful carpentry business and he and his partner enjoyed the “finer things in life”.
Succar was jailed for a maximum six years.
MECHANIC RAPIST
Depraved Mornington Peninsula mechanic Mathew Raku Raku snatched a woman off the street, held her captive and then raped her.
Raku Raku was sentenced in the County Court on in June 2021 to a minimum six-year jail term after pleading guilty to charges including two counts of rape.
Raku Raku, who also pleaded guilty to kidnapping and making threats to kill, grabbed his victim from a Seaford street and threw her into his car about 6pm on August 12, 2019.
He held a screwdriver to her head, locked the car doors, took her phone and told her that if she tried to get out of the car she would be dead, the court heard.
Raku Raku then drove the woman about four hours to Glenthompson while continually threatening her, and stole petrol on the way.
The fiend told his victim she was going to get a bullet in her head and threatened to cut off her tongue, dangle her off the side of a bridge by her feet, break her legs and tie her up by a choker chain and cable ties if she tried to run away.
The court heard the terrified victim believed she was going to be killed.
When they arrived at an empty house the victim lay by a heater to try to get warm and Raku Raku joined her.
He then raped her despite her efforts to push him off.
The following day he took her to visit a friend for several hours.
When they got back to the house, he told her they were staying in the car that night because the house was too cold.
They were sitting in the car when he broke down and said he couldn’t get done for kidnapping.
Raku Raku then put his hand around her throat and raped her
The court heard the Capel Sound mechanic, who was unemployed at the time of the offending, was brought up in a “loving family”.
Raku Raku was jailed for a maximum of nine years and eight months.
CHIPPY INTRUDER
A rope-wielding, semi-masked Mt Evelyn carpenter caused a young woman to fear she would be sexually assaulted after he crept into her bedroom, a court has heard.
Patrick Simpkins was handed a five-year community correction order in March 2022 after pleading guilty in the County Court to aggravated burglary.
Simpkins snuck into his victim’s Ashwood home early on March 15 2020.
Simpkins removed a flyscreen, climbed through a window, crept to the woman’s bedroom and rifled through her wardrobe where he found lingerie and some rope.
The victim woke to find Simpkins crouched at the foot of her bed with the rope doubled over and with a bandana covering the bottom half of his face.
“What the f---,” the victim said three times.
Simpkins, shirtless and still holding the rope, walked towards the victim on his tip toes while looking at her.
The court heard the victim believed Simpkins would “pounce on her” and feared she would be attacked or “sexually assaulted”.
Simpkins remained at the head of her bed and stared at her.
The victim, who told Simpkins to leave, feared her intruder was again “getting ready to pounce” after he remained in the room.
Simpkins, who stumbled out of the room and fled the house, handed himself into police the following month after he was caught on CCTV fleeing the property.
In her victim impact statement read to the court, the young woman said the ordeal was “really scary”.
“I was on high alert 24/7 and it was so exhausting …,” she said.
“I was terrified he would do something else …
“The memory of him laying the things out the way he did felt like a personal attack.
“I woke up on the night, (with Simpkins) in a red bandana, staring at me with wild red eyes … it is an image that is burnt into my memory … it’s horrible …
“I don’t know if I will ever forget the image of his masked face, and I don’t know if I will ever truly feel safe in my own home again.”
The court heard Simpkins grew up in Melbourne’s outer east and worked as a self-employed carpenter.
BRICKIE BOGGED FOR DRUG RACKET
Mt Dandenong brickie Dion Camilleri claimed he was getting paid good coin to shift more than 6kg of a dangerous rave drug.
Dion Camilleri was sentenced in the County Court in October 2021 to time served – 63 days – after pleading guilty to trafficking a commercial quantity of 1,4 butanediol.
Camilleri was busted at R.J. Hammer Arboretum in Olinda by cops who had been called out to investigate a disturbance early on July 18, 2020.
The bricklayer, who was living with his parents at the time, attempted to conceal a black bag containing the lethal substance which mirrors party drug GHB when ingested.
Camilleri sensationally claimed he got his ute bogged on a wooden post but denied the bag of drugs was his.
The bute was contained in seven dirt-covered bottles, some of which were strapped with duct tape, the court was told.
Police discovered the drugs, hauled Camilleri in for questioning then raided his Mt Dandenong Tourist Rd home.
Investigators discovered GHB, meth, cannabis and multiple mobile phones at the property.
Camilleri, who submitted he was a”courier”, said he was getting paid $2000 to transport the drugs.
“It was my job,” Camilleri said.
“Someone … would pick it up, I’d get my money, and then it’d be gone, ‘cause I dunno what they do with it.
“This is honestly, like, the second time I’ve been involved with it … I didn’t know what was in there … maybe pills, ecstasy pills.
“I know it was going to be illegal … they had a whole heap of, like, puff buried and everything … the juice wasn’t mine.”
Camilleri was also handed a three-year community correction order.
CALLOUS CROOK CHIPPY
Carpenter David Anderson siphoned $543,000 from his dying dad’s bank account and blew it on gambling, legal fees and a new boat.
The Ferntree Gully man kicked off his deceit after he was made power of attorney of his father’s accounts in 2014 after his father’s dementia rendered him “incapable of making reasonable decisions”.
But Anderson’s sister grew suspicious about her brother and his role of power of attorney came to an end in April 2016.
New administrators of the dad’s affairs then discovered “numerous financial irregularities”, including dozens of bank transfers to accounts held by Anderson and other “third parties”
Police investigations revealed Anderson funnelled $542,991 into several bank accounts between June 2014 and April 2016.
He blew the cash on gambling, a divorce and a new boat as his dad lay dying of Parkinson’s disease in a special care facility.
Anderson was sentenced in the County Court in September 2020 to a maximum of three-year jail term with a minimum of two years.
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