Violent serial offender freed on bail by Victorian Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of Victoria has bailed a former immigration detainee with more than 200 charges, including possessing 18 weapons within a 12-year period in Australia.

Victorian Supreme Court. Picture: NewsWire / David Geraghty

A former immigration detainee who racked up more than 208 criminal charges including 18 convictions for possessing weapons and a string of violent assaults has been freed on bail by the Victorian Supreme Court.

Abdelmoez Mohamed Elawad, who was released into the community in November 2023 under strict curfew conditions following the NZYQ High Court ruling on indefinite detention before committing more alleged offences and being jailed again in May, was freed by a judge on Monday.

The 45-year-old appeared before Justice Michael Croucher to apply for bail on a single charge of failing to comply with his curfew condition. Commonwealth pro­secutor Olivia Cameron strongly opposed bail, citing an Administrative Appeals Tribunal finding that if Elawad did commit violent offences it was likely victims would suffer from “violent crime, including actual grievous bodily harm, potentially lifelong physical and mental consequences, and possibly death”.

But Justice Croucher released Elawad on bail on the condition that he receives medical treatment for his schizophrenia and resides in a treatment facility.

The court heard Elawad has an extensive and violent 47-page criminal history, including breaching bail conditions on 22 ­occasions and being convicted of possessing 18 weapons.

While in immigration detention for five years, the court heard, there were 52 incidents that he was involved in, including one major assault, 15 minor assaults, four abusive or aggressive behaviours, as well as multiple offences for property damage.

Originally from Sudan, Elawad arrived in Australia with his family in 2006 on a humanitarian visa and had been in detention since 2019 after the Department of Home Affairs cancelled his visa on character grounds.

Elawad was also found by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal to have been sentenced to imprisonment on 30 of the 37 times he appeared before a court, the Supreme Court was told on Monday.

Ms Cameron appeared on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions and argued that Elawad has shown “grave disregard” for adhering to bail conditions, which he breached 10 times in four weeks after his release.

“As I’m making my case, there are many other of the surrounding circumstances which mitigate strongly against a grant of bail and the surrounding circumstances I argue show that there is a high degree of risk to the Australian community if he is on bail,” Ms Cameron said.

In one incident in April, Elawad was seen at the Courthouse Hotel in North Melbourne, potentially drug-affected and carrying a knife, the court heard.

It heard that during his interaction with police, Elawad disregarded a command to stop and entered the hotel after stealing groceries from a Coles supermarket.

Senior Constable Scott Mahony grabbed his arm to prevent him from walking away and in response, Ms Cameron said the accused “was thrashing about and then reached inside his pocket”. The officer believed he was reaching for a knife and disengaged.

“This is whilst he was inside a hotel in which there were many patrons at the pokies. He was seen to be walking around holding a knife before leaving it behind the pokies and entering the toilets,” she said.

Justice Michael Croucher at the Victorian Supreme Court.

Elawad was granted bail for that incident before he failed to comply with his curfew condition on May 15, which saw him arrested and detained until July 29.

Justice Croucher said while it was appropriate for the prosecution to point to his background, “the question is whether he should be released on bail on this charge, this single charge, the circumstances of which are (he’s) found in Footscray beyond his curfew time.”

“Is that it?” the judge asked.

The court heard the offence of breaching curfew carries a maximum term of imprisonment for five years; and upon conviction, a mandatory term of 12 months must be imposed.

Elawad’s lawyer Raj Bhattacharya argued that while there may be a risk to the public, the judge should not be satisfied it was an unacceptable risk.

“It’s not clear to me who the specific members of the public are who would be at risk other than the public as a whole because he is a person who isn’t returning home at night time when he should be,” Mr Bhattacharya said.

Justice Croucher said given the nature of the allegations on this particular occasion, there was no suggestion that Elawad posed any danger to the public by breaching his curfew.

“I don’t understand why he’s not on bail at the moment,” Justice Croucher said. “What’s the world come to that says that makes any sense? I am persuaded that Mr Elawad must be granted bail.”

Elawad was granted bail on four conditions, including residing at accommodation provided in west Melbourne, obeying all lawful directions given to him by psychiatrists, attend an appointment at Healthworks and accept all lawful treatment recommendations.