Ice pick robbery would have been 'frightening and painful' for victim

Three men used an ice pick to help them rob a man outside his own home in what would have been a “frightening and painful experience”, a court heard.

The victim walked out of his unit complex in Hawker on the morning of 23 July 2022 and saw long-time associate Kalani Joliffe-Cole standing in his carport, court documents say.

An unidentified male wearing a face mask then approached him and threw him to the ground before Joliffe-Cole punched him in the face, and a second unidentified man joined in the assault.

One of the other men pulled out what is described in the documents as an “ice pick”, held it to the victim’s neck and told him not to move while he was punched again.

During the attack, the victim went between consciousness and unconsciousness and felt the robbers searching his pockets before they drove off in a white car.

The victim realised his wallet, which contained bank cards and $350 cash, had been stolen, as had his sneakers.

A short time later, he received messages on his mobile phone from his bank alerting him to suspicious transactions at shops in Florey.

Police raided Joliffe-Cole’s home in Belconnen the next month and arrested him.

He eventually pleaded guilty to a charge of aggravated robbery by joint commission. No one else has been charged over the incident.

During Joliffe-Cole’s sentencing hearing in the ACT Supreme Court on Thursday (8 August), the prosecutor agreed that the 27-year-old had demonstrated a degree of victim empathy and remorse due to his comments, which included, “I feel like a piece of s-t”.

Justice Louise Taylor said she could infer that it would have been “a very frightening and painful experience for the victim”.

Joliffe-Cole’s lawyer, Legal Aid’s Edward Chen, said his client had been going through withdrawals at the time and hadn’t been able to afford the drugs he was using.

He said when his client, who is currently in jail, is released from custody, he will have a very different life from what was in the past as he was engaging in counselling and was on anti-depressants for the first time.

Mr Chen also said his client’s letter of apology set out some of his achievements. For instance, he had become a peer mentor in a program on raising children.

Justice Taylor will hand down her sentence later this month.