Justin Atonio sentenced for ‘cowardly' attack on student in Sunshine West

A crim who robbed a teen at knifepoint in Sunshine West and then tried to blame his behaviour on his “abusive” parents had the rule book thrown at him instead when the judge spotted his lies from miles away.

Justin Atonio, 21, told the court his parents’ abuse had driven him off the rails and into a life of crime. Picture: Facebook

A violent brute with a gift for telling tall tales has failed to pull the wool over the eyes of an unimpressed judge.

Justin Atonio, 21, was served a cold hard dose of reality when County Court Judge Frances Hogan told him at his sentencing hearing on Friday for armed robbery that he was wasting his time throwing her “doleful” puppy eyes in an effort to charm his way out of trouble.

Outrageously, he tried to get himself off the hook by blaming his law-breaking behaviour on his “abusive” parents, Judge Hogan told the court.

Atonio, a New Zealand citizen, pleaded guilty in December to robbing a 17-year-old high school student at knifepoint late last year while riding a bus to Sunshine West.

The court heard Atonio hit the boy in the face before walking off with his phone.

The young father of two was on bail at the time for a number of alleged thefts, one which allegedly involved him carrying an axe into a store and another where he allegedly punched a security guard three times to the face.

Judge Hogan said Atonio’s lawyer and two psychologists provided information to the court to say that Atonio had a difficult upbringing marred by emotional and psychological abuse perpetrated by his strict Samoan-born parents.

The evidence, some of which was provided under oath by Atonio, included that his parents would hit him using electrical chords and pieces of wood, leaving welts on his body.

They would also tell him he was a “disgrace” and made him feel like a “waste of a life”.

But Judge Hogan said Atonio’s lies didn’t stack up when viewed alongside the glowing character references both his parents had provided for him.

She said his father had asked the court to grant his son a second chance and insisted he would support him if released, while Atonio’s mother, who’d visited him in custody, said he was a good boy who’d just made some wrong decisions.

Atonio’s tall tales didn’t end there, and she said he’d also provided inconsistent details to different psychologists on a number of other issues including the extent and nature of his drug use, she said.

“Much of the plea hearing was devoted to impugning your parents’ character as people who had relentlessly abused you both physically and emotionally,” Judge Hogan said.

“My impression of you is that you would say anything to assist your current predicament.

“Indeed I assess you as someone who can look doleful when it suits you as you did at times when you were giving evidence. I consider you can be someone who can be quite manipulative.”

Judge Hogan went on to describe Atonio’s attack on the defenceless boy as “cowardly”.

She said Atonio had “scant respect for authority”, which fed into his “arrogant, bullying behaviour”.

Judge Hogan sentenced Atonio to 21 months’ jail and noted he could face deportation following his sentence if his visa to reside in Australia was cancelled as a result.

She declared 152 days presentence detention time served.

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