Felix Caddaye-Rose sentenced over threats, assault, police standoff

A Bellbrae man was in the midst of a drug-induced psychotic episode when he sparked a “frightening” armed standoff with police that left two officers traumatised, a court has heard.

Felix Caddaye-Rose

A man in a drug-induced psychosis, involved in a tense standoff where police were forced to shoot out the tyres of his car to stop him escaping a small Surf Coast town, has given a jail sentence for his crimes.

Felix Caddaye-Rose believed he was being stalked, his girlfriend was a spy and he was being hypnotised by a government organisation.

In the week before the July 2023 incident, Caddaye-Rose was using ice daily and couldn’t sleep, to the point he had been awake for six days straight.

In an effort to try to sleep, he used cannabis – but it only worsened his escalating paranoia.

It was a psychotic episode that would end with him being hunted by police and found naked in a family’s spa in Bellbrae.

In November, Caddaye-Rose, 26, pleaded guilty in the County Court at Geelong to more than a dozen charges and on Monday he was sentenced by Judge Gerard Mullaly.

Police search in Bellbrae Picture: Mark Wilson

The charges largely stemmed from July 28, 2023 in Bellbrae; Caddaye-Rose assaulted a woman known to him, threatening her, and others, with a machete and a fake gun.

Police were called and after a “terrifying” standoff, Caddaye-Rose escaped – leading to a brief manhunt as specialist police were called in to comb the rural hamlet.

Judge Mullaly paused in his sentencing remarks to commend the officers involved, noting the “highly stressful and dangerous” situation could have ended far worse and likening it to the infamous Wieambilla shootings.

“It was on or after darkness fell, at a bush block in Bellbrae; these are frightening circumstances for police, as later tragic events in Queensland reveal.”

Two of the officers were left traumatised and have suffered interrupted sleep and mental stress, the court heard.

Judge Mullaly also noted the impact the incident would have had on the other victims, who “were exposed to real danger and to an unpredictable, erratic and psychotic individual”.

“The whole incident was terrifying and caused significant risk of greater tragedy,” Judge Mullaly said

SES and police are searching for a weopon in Bellbrae after a gunman was arrested Picture: Mark Wilson

Due to his psychotic state, Caddaye-Rose’s moral culpability was much reduced, but not completely, the court heard.

“You certainly knew of your paranoia, and that your paranoia was connected to your drug use,” Judge Mullaly told him, describing his addiction as a blight.

At Caddaye-Rose plea hearing last year, Judge Mullaly was persuaded to defer his sentence and grant him bail to attend a residential rehabilitation program, where he has spent almost 200 days.

It was clear, Judge Mullaly said, that Caddaye-Rose’s drug use had a direct, causal link to his offending and therefore his rehabilitation was in the community’s best interest.

It was a chance Caddaye-Rose had not wasted, the court heard.

Letters from his rehab facility revealed a “growing optimism” as he “moved through the steps to recovery” and gained “considerable insight”, and his family remain supportive of him.

Judge Mullaly said Caddaye-Rose had shown commitment to his rehabilitation, a factor sentencing judges must reward.

He sentenced Caddaye-Rose to 488 days jail, reckoned as time served, and a 12-month community corrections order (CCO).

But for his guilty plea, he would have been jailed for three years, including 20 months without parole.

Originally published as Felix Caddaye-Rose sentenced over threats, assault, police standoff