Six men have been sentenced after a violent botched car theft that resulted in a woman being punched in the face.
The group admitted to numerous charges that arose after the men broke into a house in Kialla, near Shepparton, about 11pm, on January 11, 2022.
The Shepparton County Court heard the group was led by 30-year-old Mohamed Elnour, who went to the property to retrieve a car that he alleged had been stolen from him.
The green Holden Commodore was on the roadside throughout the terrifying 10-minute ordeal.
When the six men arrived at the house, there were four people at the property — a man and a woman in the driveway and another man and woman inside.
The court heard the man in the house yelled for the two victims in the driveway to come inside, but the pair did not do so. Moments later, the man inside the house locked the front door and fled the property jumping the back fence.
It was then that violence erupted in the quiet suburban street.
Violent search for car keys
The County Court heard the group then kicked and punched the male victim in the driveway of the home.
Five of them, including Elnour, forced their way into the house, looking for the man who had fled as well as the keys to the green Commodore.
Some armed themselves with knives while one of the women escaped the chaos.
The court heard Elnour was enraged.
"They f**ked me up yesterday. They jumped me," he said during the home invasion.
"I was bleeding. They stole my f**king car. This is what they're going to get."
Judge Michael O'Connell said the group was "terrifying the people inside".
The court heard the remaining woman was punched in the eye by the then 23-year-old Maluk Thou during the fracas.
Judge O'Connell said it was a "gratuitous assault".
She momentarily lost consciousness and the court heard, Elnour reprimanded Thou, saying, "Don't do that shit".
In a victim impact statement, the woman said she was shaken and in shock at the time of the offence, and she continues to feel unsafe in her home.
Police arrived at 11.10pm and all six offenders ran away.
Six plead guilty
The men were arrested shortly after the police arrived and taken to Shepparton Police Station, while the male victim was taken to hospital.
Maluk Thou, Mohamed Elnour, Kenadi Ramadan, 31, Deng Chol, 28, Kuok Bol, 28, and Goseph Gar, 31, all pleaded guilty to affray and aggravated burglary.
Thou also pleaded guilty to assault.
Elnour and Bol admitted to committing an indictable offence on bail, and Bol also pleaded guilty to one charge of criminal damage.
Ramadan, Chol, Elnour and Gar received six-month prison sentences, while Thou was handed a seven-month sentence.
Gar, who had no prior criminal history, received a 45-day sentence.
The court heard all six offenders had served sufficient time on remand, and those in prison were released.
They each agreed to an 18-month community corrections order.
