Melbourne carjacker’s jail time cut because prison can’t deal with her

A Melbourne carjacker who went on a 30-hour crime has had her jail sentence slashed because prison guards are struggling to control her.

Teryaki requires 23-hour solitary confinement and handcuffs much of the time. Picture: Stock Image

Jail staff are struggling to control a young Melbourne carjacker with an “extraordinary” rap sheet who’s unable to get the “intensive” rehabilitation treatment she needs because she’s a woman.

Heba Teryaki received a reduced prison term on appeal today, after the Court of Appeal found her jail time could worsen her significant mental impairment, which has been blamed for her crimes.

Teryaki requires 23-hour solitary confinement and handcuffs much of the time, has an extremely low IQ, borderline personality disorder and is violent and irrational behind bars.

The appeal judges said no one had been able to solve how to deal with her in jail, other than keeping her isolated under the most stringent conditions.

“The applicant finds herself in an utterly deplorable situation,” they said in their ruling.

“It seems as though she is in desperate need of some form of intensive therapeutic treatment.

“Facilities are available to provide such treatment in secure institutions, but only for male offenders. That situation is obviously unacceptable. It must not be allowed to continue.” Teryaki was jailed for three years, with a minimum of two years, in 2018 over a 30-hour crime spree that included a carjacking and two attempted carjackings across suburban Melbourne in 2017.

The appeal judges reduced her term to two years and three months, with a minimum one year and nine months, saying jail has been more a burden for Teryaki than the sentencing judge realised.

They said her behaviour in jail had been worsening, staff were struggling to deal with her and there was a risk her jail term would affect her chances of rehabilitation.

Teryaki was 22 at the time she and a male co-offender threatened a woman with a knife before stealing her Hyundai.

The next day Teryaki tried to carjack another woman, but she managed to drive off with Teryaki and a co-offender hanging onto the car mirrors. That same night, a woman parked at a gym was approached by a male and Teryaki but refused to hand over her keys.

The male stabbed her in the thigh, causing a small cut. The victim managed to run and the offenders couldn’t start her car because she still had the immobilisation chip.

At the time of the offending, Teryaki was living at a facility for young people with intellectual disabilities.

When arrested, she admitted stealing the Hyundai and said she’d smoked ice, but couldn’t remember specific allegations.

Given time served, Teryaki has less than two months left of her sentence before she’s eligible for parole.

The judges said on release it was hoped she would live under the auspices of Jesuit Social Services to get treatment.

AAP