Geelong man sentenced over attempted burglary, shocking history laid bare

A court has heard an attempted burglar with a lengthy criminal history was the victim of “sustained, depraved” abuse before being taken into state care – where the abuse continued.

A childhood of abuse left a petty criminal on the fringes.

A Geelong man’s life of crime was a “depressing” inevitability, stemming from a childhood marred by neglect and horrific abuse, a court has heard.

Kyle, a pseudonym as he cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared in the County Court this week to be sentenced by Judge John Kelly.

The 37-year-old pleaded guilty to attempted aggravated burglary and attempted carjacking.

The court heard Kyle and a female accomplice first tried to break into a Highton home in December 2022, and when confronted by the owner Kyle pulled a knife and demanded the keys to his car.

Unbeknown to Kyle, the homeowner’s six-month-old daughter was sleeping in the car.

The homeowner ran onto the street, where he flagged down a passing postie on a motorbike, and the two followed Kyle and his accomplice as they fled.

Kyle was found by police hiding in bushes. He told officers he’d taken heroin, ice and xanax that morning.

The botched robbery was the latest entry into Kyle’s lengthy criminal history.

Judge Kelly described it as “clumsy” and “amateurish”, but said the use of a knife elevated it, as did the fact Kyle was on bail at the time.

The homeowner provided a victim impact statement that was not read in court, but Judge Kelly said the impact it had on him was “entirely understandable”.

However, Kyle’s moral culpability was “substantially” lessened, Judge Kelly found, due to a myriad of “complex and deep-seeded psychological and emotional issues”.

The court heard Kyle had “experienced horrendous and protracted abuse” and was taken into foster care at a young age.

He had suffered “sustained, depraved sexual abuse” at the hands of a family member, a “monstrous betrayal” that was followed by more sexual and physical abuse while a ward of the state.

Shuffled – “passed around like a parcel” – between foster homes, Kyle began to act out, displaying “aggressive and sexualised behaviour” and, at the age of 12, starting to abuse drugs.

Judge Kelly told the court it was remarkable that disclosures a young Kyle made about the “unpardonable” abuse were never investigated, but Kyle was later awarded a civil settlement against the state over the abuse he suffered while in state care.

Judge Kelly said Kyle’s criminality was “a depressing and inevitable consequence” of a lifetime and neglect and abuse.

It was “remarkable”, Judge Kelly said, that Kyle had never been given the chance to complete a community corrections order (CCO), instead experiencing a “revolving door of prison terms”.

The court heard Kyle had become institutionalised, and felt safest in jail, but “an alternative to prison needs to be tested”.

While he was found to be a high risk of reoffending, Judge Kelly said there was “cause for guarded optimism”.

Thanks to the settlement, Kyle has the means to secure a home and pay for the mental health care he needed, the court heard.

Kyle was convicted and sentenced to the 16-months he’d spent in custody, reckoned as time served, along with a 12-month CCO.

Originally published as Geelong man sentenced over attempted burglary, shocking history laid bare