Danh Duy Ngo escapes jail despite third poaching crime
AN ABALONE thief pinged poaching the precious shellfish for the third has time has escaped jail.
South East
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AN ABALONE thief pinged poaching the precious shellfish for the third has time has escaped jail.
Despite being given a severe grilling by a magistrate, the man walked free from court with just a community corrections order.
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Danh Duy Ngo pleaded guilty to five fisheries violations at Dromana Magistrates’ Court this morning.
The court heard on April 20 this year the 34-year-old Noble Park man had driven to Cape Schanck, armed with a backpack, abalone knife and diving gear.
It was a no-fishing day, and Ngo was banned from fishing anyway.
He arrived at the carpark about 7.30am, and left his vehicle to walk down the beach track and into a cave.
At about 9.30am he was seen on the track by an alert fisheries officer.
Ngo tried to flee, dropping a backpack and freezer bags, before a second officer managed to grab him.
He struggled, resisted arrest and attempted to break free, before finally being subdued.
Officers then found 68 abalone, weighing a total of 19.6kg, a wetsuit, a dive mask and an abalone knife-type tool.
Ngo denied poaching the mollusc, saying he was just “carrying it for a friend”.
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In court his defence lawyer said the abalone was not for selling and was only for “his own use”.
He said Ngo was a hardworking father of a two-year-old, with another baby on the way, and he was “mot making a livelihood out of poaching abalone”.
The court heard he has similar poaching convictions from 2014 and 2015.
Magistrate Ross Betts said he was very close to jailing Ngo, and warned him another similar crime would very likely end his liberty.
“The consequences for the community of this type of offending are significant,” Mr Betts said.
“If you are foolish enough to engage in this illegal activity again it is almost certain a term of imprisonment will be imposed.”
Ngo was given a two-year community correction order, must do 180 hours of unpaid work and hand over a $2000 bond.
He also lost his $2000 car and diving gear, and was banned from fishing for another 20 years.
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