A man who wounded a constable with a makeshift spear has avoided returning to jail, serving his sentence in the community after satisfying a judge he genuinely believed his victim was not a police officer.
Rory James Constantino, 31, was given a 21-month sentence in the NSW District Court on Monday, to be served under an intensive correction order, with conditions including a nightly curfew and 100 hours of community service.
A jury found him guilty of reckless wounding in September for stabbing Senior Constable Jacob Vella with a makeshift spear made from a broomstick at his home in Sydney's southwest on June 11, 2019.
Two officers arrived at the Sadleir property early that morning in an unmarked car, wearing dark casual clothes including hoodies and sneakers.
One knocked on the front door, while the other approached the rear.
Constantino said he saw a "random guy" on his doorstep who gave him "bad vibrations" in a recorded police interview.
He did not tell Constantino they were there to arrest his father Ricky, who had recently been in hospital for leukaemia treatment, just to speak with him.
Ricky Constantino had a warrant for a firearm offence, but the officers did not have a printed copy.
A police badge was only "flashed", through a window with blinds, and did not have a photo, as Constantino incorrectly thought it should.
The "random guy's" partner, Sen Const Vella, seemed "very suss", when he ran from a driveway leading to the back of the property responding to a call of "Jake", before kicking in the door.
The police officers had "the essence of thugs," Constantino said.
"This guy did not seem to be a police officer ... I thought I was going to die. I literally thought these guys were going to kill me," he said in the interview.
Judge Sarah Huggett was satisfied Constantino believed he was being pursued by a considerably bigger individual who had kicked in his front door when he grabbed the spear and lunged at Sen Const Vella, injuring his neck and wrist.
"However, his response was unreasonable, in that it was excessive," she said on Monday.
Constantino also showed a significant degree of recklessness, however his offending was not premeditated, the judge said.
He spent 241 days on remand before being granted bail in February 2020, mostly complying with what Judge Huggett called "onerous" conditions, aside from a breach for cannabis possession in June 2021.
Although on conditional release for driving offences at the time of the wounding, Judge Huggett said Constantino's minor, non-violent criminal history would not deny him leniency.
Despite crown prosecutor Leon Apostle describing an apology Constantino offered the court as "self-serving", the judge said he had repeatedly shown remorse.
Constantino also offered to plead guilty before trial, to an offence carrying a higher maximum sentence, but the Crown rejected it.
Judge Huggett was satisfied keeping Constantino out of jail would lower his future risk of re-offending.
"He has community and family ties, and has demonstrated he can live a crime-free life which provides confidence the community will be protected," she said.
Constantino will remain under the order until November 2024 but any further offences could result in him serving the whole of the sentence in full-time custody.
