More than two years jail for man involved in 'violent group attack' during robbery

One of three men involved in a “random, unprovoked attack” to rob a man with an “ice pick” will spend more than two years behind bars.

During sentencing in the ACT Supreme Court on Friday (16 August), Justice Louise Taylor said Kalani Joliffe-Cole, 27, had been involved in a “violent group attack”.

“The victim was subjected to a random, unprovoked attack by three men who quickly indicated their preparedness to use violence against him,” she said.

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

The victim knew Joliffe-Cole from school and the two had played basketball together for two years.

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

The victim “moved in and out of consciousness” and “could feel the men searching his pockets” before the three men left in a white car.

The assault would likely have been a “very frightening and painful experience” for him, Justice Taylor said.

“The attack on the victim was without warning and brutal,” she said.

After waking from unconsciousness, the victim realised his wallet – which contained bank cards, his driver’s licence, his ACT Firearms licence, his Medicare card, $350 cash and other items – 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.

While it was not a large amount of money that was stolen, it still “represented some financial disadvantage and some practical inconvenience” for the victim, Justice Taylor said.

Shortly after 1 pm, the victim went to Belconnen Police Station to report the incident. He was then assessed by paramedics and taken to The Canberra Hospital.

While three men were involved in the offending, Joliffe-Cole is the only person to be sentenced.

“An attack in company such as this might feel brave against a man when he is struck without warning, when he is clearly outnumbered, and when he knows there is a weapon that might be used against him,” Justice Taylor said.

“In truth, the attack was cowardly, facilitated by a united willingness to behave despicably toward an unsuspecting member of the community.”

Joliffe-Cole had been arrested in NSW for his involvement on 3 January and extradited to the ACT.

Justice Taylor said Joliffe-Cole had demonstrated “enhanced insight and improved maturity” during his time in custody.

“There is a real basis for some confidence as for his prospects for rehabilitation,” she said.

Joliffe-Cole was undergoing counselling for his use of heroin and methamphetamines and had “expressed a desire” to stay sober.

“He has attended counselling for anger management, multiple educational courses, a parenting course in which he was a peer mentor and is employed as a sweeper in his unit, a job in which he expressed pride,” she said.

Justice Taylor said Joliffe-Cole could connect his offending to his drug use and acknowledged the attack would have been “traumatising” for the victim.

“The combined effect of the material demonstrates that the offender is not merely sorry for the circumstances he finds himself in, but genuinely remorseful for the conduct he perpetrated against the victim,” she said.

However, she said the court had to consider his past criminal history during sentencing, which she termed “significant”.

She sentenced Joliffe-Cole to two years, seven months and 15 days of imprisonment, with a non-parole period until January 2026.

He received a discount for an early guilty plea to a charge of aggravated robbery by joint commission, and his sentence was backdated to account for time in custody.