Judge expresses sympathy for Jack Collett during sentencing for “frightening crime”

A Judge expressed sympathy for a young Hoppers Crossing man “wasting” the best years of his life in prison, as he was sentenced to more time behind bars.

A man who robbed his housemate with a knife just weeks after being released from prison is back behind bars.

Jack Collett, 22, was sentenced in the County Court this week after pleading guilty to armed robbery and stealing fuel from a Footscray petrol station in November 2021.

The court heard Collett had been released from prison just a month before he burst into his roommate’s bedroom.

“Addled by booze”, he waved a knife and demanded the man’s car keys about 10.30pm.

The men struggled and the victim sustained a cut thumb, before Collett left the Hoppers Crossing rental they shared in his mate’s car.

The victim immediately reported the incident to police.

Collett was arrested in Williamstown two days later — he was still in possession of the vehicle.

Judge Gerard Mullaly said there was no doubt the attack was “frightening” for his housemate.

“Your victim was entitled to feel safe in his room,” he said. “You used a deadly weapon and a threat to get his valuable property.”

But he said he held sympathy for the man who had a “hard upbringing” and had spent most of his adult life in custody.

“You said you find it difficult on your release from prison to cope, often resorting to prison-type behaviours to get your way or to sort out problems,” he said.

“I do note you are slowly gaining some insight into the fact that you are wasting your best years by committing crimes and being imprisoned.”

The court heard a psychological report had identified the young man was already suffering adverse impacts from his time spent in the prison system.

“I think I find it hard to shake my prison thinking when I’m not in prison,” Collett told the reporting psychologist.

Judge Mullaly said he hoped support systems could be established when Collett was inevitably released on parole to give him a chance to reintegrate into society.

He was jailed for two years and eight months for the robbery.