Justice Lex Lasry jails killer Serdar Atesok for drive-by shooting death
A JUDGE who cut a violent criminal loose on bail only to have him assassinate someone a month later has sentenced him.
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A JUDGE who cut a violent criminal loose on bail only to have him assassinate someone a month later has sentenced him to a minimum of nine years in jail.
Nathan Knight, 24, was shot through the eye by Serdar Atesok from a moving vehicle in Lalor on New Year’s Eve, 2015.
He had been bailed a little over a month earlier by Justice Lex Lasry from the same court he sentenced him on Thursday.
Atesok, who was sentenced to a total of 12 years jail and had his licence suspended for a year, could be back on the streets in as little as seven-and-a-half with time already served.
Prosecutors allowed Atesok to plead guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter because they felt they could not prove he intended to murder Knight from a moving vehicle he was also driving.
He also pleaded guilty to stealing the car and torching it.
In delivering his sentence, Justice Lasry outlined all of the reasons police had tried to keep Atesok behind bars.
Atesok, 30, had been given chance after chance by the justice system and repeatedly spat it back in the court’s face.
In 2006 he breached a community corrections order for intentionally causing injury.
The next year he was convicted of burglary, affray, theft and stealing a car.
In 2010 he was convicted for recklessly causing injury and criminal damage.
He copped another corrections order, which he breached again with another savage assault.
In 2012 he was done for stealing more cars and property and possessing methamphetamine.
Justice Lasry said Atesok had been using ice pretty much every day since his 20s.
In 2014 he was convicted of weapons offences and more stealing, this time while free on bail.
He was caught stealing again the next year and pleaded guilty to breaching his bail conditions with more drug offences.
When he appeared before Justice Lasry in November that year, Atesok was charged with kidnap, robbery, intentionally causing injury and thefts.
He cut him loose on the condition he behave himself and deal with his drug habit.
Atesok was on the run three weeks later.
Mr Knight’s slaying was captured clearly by a camera mounted to the home Mr Knight had exited before being shot.
He was seen chatting with two people in a car across from the home before his killer drove down the road in a stolen car.
He ran for his life, but Atesok fired a single shot with a 0.22 calibre rifle though the retracted passenger window.
It hit his mark in the eye and he died later in hospital.
The court heard Atesok shot Mr Knight because he believed he owed his mate a debt.
Although Justice Lasry said he accepted Atesok was sorry for what he had done, the killer showed little remorse as he was led into the Supreme Court for sentence.
He laughed and joked with his large crowd of supporters, who yelled out to him as he was led off to jail.