Tiah Perry-Connolly jailed for carjacking man in Caroline Springs

A former model has learnt her fate after committing a terrifying Caroline Springs carjacking with her knife-wielding former beau.

Tiah Perry-Connolly helped her boyfriend carjack a man in Caroline Springs.

A former model with a poor choice in romantic partners helped her armed boyfriend carjack a cleaner in a terrifying attack in a Caroline Springs carpark.

Tiah Perry-Connolly, 29, was sentenced to 203 days’ jail before the County Court on Friday, pleading guilty to carjacking and committing an indictable offence while on bail.

The court heard Perry-Connolly and her then-partner, Jai Bright, followed the victim from where he had been working, at Caroline Springs’ Modern Medical Centre on Western Highway, about 8.20pm on April 7, 2019.

The man had just locked up the building and walked to a public car park where his Mitsubishi Lancer was parked when he heard Bright say “Hey mate, give me your keys”.

The man turned to see the couple walking towards him.

Bright stood very close to the man, with Perry-Connolly right behind him, and shouted, “Give me your keys”.

The man tried to get to the driver’s door to get into the car but Bright pushed him and punched him in the chest, then pulled out a military knife.

Bright waved the knife in front of the man, causing the man to pull away to avoid making contact with the blade.

Bright screamed “Give me the keys or I will kill you”, and the terrified victim threw the keys to him.

Meanwhile, Perry-Connolly stood closely behind her boyfriend.

Bright unlocked the car with the remote on the keys and Perry-Connolly jumped in the front seat.

As she got in the car she yelled abuse at the victim.

Bright then got into the car and sped away, while the victim ran to a nearby restaurant for help.

Police tracked the car by a GPS tracking device it had been fitted with and discovered it had been taken to Melton.

Officers then spotted it leaving a Caltex petrol station in Melton and tried to pull it over.

Bright sped away from police and the car was tracked by police helicopter before it was dumped in Cairnlea, where Bright and Perry-Connolly fled on foot.

Police found the couple trying to hide underneath furniture in a Cairnlea backyard.

Perry-Connolly wasn’t wearing shoes.

Her boots, beanie, handbag and the victim’s backpack, which held his passport, were found dumped near the property.

Perry-Connolly was on bail at time.

She was then held in custody for 203 days before she was released on supervised bail.

But she found herself in trouble again on March 26 this year when she was caught in a Thomastown motel room with large amounts of meth and alprazolam and two men.

Perry-Connolly’s lawyer told the court that, like the carjacking, that situation was the result of another poor choice of romantic partner.

It was heard the unemployed woman, who previously worked in modelling and administration roles, had suffered significant trauma and had grappled with drug addiction.

It was heard the Bacchus Marsh-raised woman had guarded prospects of rehabilitation.

At the plea hearing, her lawyer pushed for Perry-Connolly to be sentenced to time served, saying a community corrections order would be too much punishment, and would put her at risk of getting into more trouble.

“She is someone who may come to the attention of police again,” the lawyer said.

Judge Anne Hassan disagreed that Perry-Connolly being likely to reoffend was a reason not to hand her an order, saying it was her responsibility not to commit further crimes.

But at the sentence hearing on Friday, Judge Hassan agreed a community corrections order on top of the 203 days jail Perry-Connolly had already served would be excessive from a punitive perspective.

Perry Connolly’s licence was disqualified for three months.