An Indian taxi driver who pleaded guilty to 'aggravated break and enter and robbery in company' in 2017, has failed in his attempt to have his sentence overturned by the Court of Criminal Appeal in New South Wales.
In a judgment handed down on Monday, the court dismissed the appeal and ruled that the sentence of the offender, Amandeep Singh, was not ‘unreasonable,’ or ‘plainly unjust.'
Amandeep Singh would gamble $1000 and $5000 per day and went to the Crown casino in Melbourne even when he had no money, the District Court heard in 2017. Source: AAP
Case timeline:
In July 2017, the then 26-year-old Mr Singh was working as a taxi driver in Melbourne. He travelled to Sydney with the intent to gamble $5,000 meant for the payment of the tuition fees, that his father sent him from India.
Mr Singh along with two of his friends, Tegbir Singh and Ali Raza, both of whom are co-offenders in the case went to The Star casino and lost a lot of money.
While playing, one of them noticed a 95-year-old gambler who kept a wad of cash, described in the evidence as ‘all of his savings’ in the inner flap pocket of his jacket.
The court heard the offenders then followed the elderly man on the train and then on foot, all the way to his residence and knocked at his door.
The man answered the door only to be pushed back inside the house onto a milk crate near the door.
One of the assailants then covered his mouth, took out the cash worth $6,250 from his pocket before handing him back a $100 note before fleeing, so “he could eat.”
The trio then went back to the casino to gamble away the stolen money but lost that too.
The sentencing
In August 2017, all three offenders were arrested with the help of the CCTV footage gathered from the victim’s house.
Later that month, the District Court sentenced Mr Singh to a non-parole period of three years and an additional term of one year and six months for the offence.
Amandeep Singh’s background:
Mr Singh arrived in Australia on a student visa in 2015. He was enrolled in a master’s program at a private college in Victoria but was driving a taxi at the time of the offence.
While sentencing him, the District Court Judge Siobhan Herbert found that Mr Singh got addicted to gambling soon after his arrival.
He would gamble $1000 and $5000 per day and went to the Crown casino in Melbourne even when he had no money, the court had heard.
The NSW Court of Criminal Appeal on Monday dismissed Singh's challenges to his conviction and his minimum three-year jail term. Source: Pixabay
As a result of his addiction, he lost his entire tuition fees, along with his parents’ retirement fund worth $50,000 and money borrowed from his friends.
In addition, he consumed 7-8 standard drinks per day, smoked 1-2g of cannabis and used 0.5g of methylamphetamine per day and used opium on occasions, the court was told in 2017.
As a result of his addiction, he deferred his studies and became homeless in the six months prior to committing the offence.
Mr Singh who pleaded guilty to the offence later filed an appeal against the conviction on three grounds including that he did not "break" in but knocked on the door, a submission which he later withdrew.
His appeal was dismissed by the court on Monday, which ruled that the agreed facts supported the charge.
