By Ewen McRae
A Delahey man who shot a home invader in the back with a shotgun has had his prison sentence extended on appeal in the Supreme Court.
Oliver Graoroski was sentenced in the County Court on October 11 for one charge of reckless conduct endangering life and being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm following an incident on October 18, 2017.
He was sentenced to seven months jail and a two-year community corrections order, however the Director of Public Prosecutions appealed the length of the sentence, saying it was manifestly inadequate.
The court heard that Graoroski was living at his parents Delahey home at the time of the incident, and was involved in a relationship with Rachel Sacco.
Both Ms Sacco and Graoroski were using drugs at the time. Ms Sacco had arranged for a former partner, Jose Vargas, and his friends to break into Graoroski’s bedroom to steal money and drugs.
Ms Sacco sent text messages to Mr Vargas on the night of the incident, advising where the money and drugs was hidden, and also arranging to leave the front door unlocked.
Mr Vargas and two friends entered the house about 3.30am, and armed with a baseball bat and a machete they threatened Graoroski as they tried to bind his hands with cable ties.
Graoroski’s father then entered the room and was able to wrestle the baseball bat out of the intruder’s arms.
Graoroski then took a shotgun from behind the door, and after a brief struggle the three intruders fled the house.
Graoroski chased the men from the house, and shot one of them in the upper back. The shot intruder fell to the ground but got up and drove away with the other two.
The shooting victim was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries.
All three intruders were arrested soon after. They have all been sentenced to more than five years in prison.
The court heard the injured intruder had two shattered ribs, perforations to his stomach and bowel, and a pulmonary haemorrhage. He was briefly placed on life support and spent six weeks in hospital.
The DPP argued the original sentence placed too much weight on the Graoroski’s motive or explanation for offending and not enough on his possession of a shotgun, or the seriousness of the offences.
They also said by the time Graoroski discharged his shotgun, the threat presented by the home invaders had dissipated.
Justices Chris Maxwell, Terence Forrest and Mark Weinberg agreed with the DPP that the sentence was too lenient.
“It is unarguable that the respondent [Graoroski] was confronted with an extremely difficult set of circumstances,” they said.
“While they do operate powerfully to ameliorate it, they do not extinguish it. By the time the respondent chased [Nick] Anagnostou from his house, the danger had passed.”
Graoroski was resentenced to two years jail.
