Three men, including two Aboriginal teenagers, David George Rigney-Brown, and Ethram Ronald Hughes, assaulted and robbed an Indian taxi driver in August 2015.
On the evening of 22 August 2015, they assaulted the driver who had asked the men pay in advance as they appeared to be intoxicated.
While David Rigney-Brown, who was aged 19 at the time of the attack, physically assaulted the taxi driver, punching him in the stomach, face and shoulders, knocking the turban off his head, Hughes, who was aged 18, stole coins from the taxi.
Just days later, the same men assaulted a service station attendant with a tyre spanner.
In his victim impact statement, the taxi driver said he is still fearful giving ride to Aboriginal passengers.
The service station attendant told the court he quit his job because he was fearful all the time.
While deciding an appeal by the director of Public Prosecution against the "manifestly inadequate" non-parole periods granted to the two Aboriginal men Rigney-Brown and Hughes by the District Court Judge, the top court of South Australia ruled that they were less morally culpable due to their impoverished and abusive upbringings, News Corp Australia reported.
Rigney-Brown received a jail sentence of four years, two months with 18 months of non-parole period and Hughes was sentenced to seven years in jail with a non-parole period of two-and-a-half years.
The Director of Public Prosecution argued against the relatively lower non-parole periods that the men had poor prospects of rehabilitation due to their previous criminal records.
But Chief Justice Chris Kourakis said the men should be allowed to change their lives.
"The respondents were born into communities of entrenched social disadvantage,” said Chief Justice Koirakis.
"They were subject to parental neglect and abuse. They subsequently became homeless and addicted to drugs. These factors denied them meaningful social engagement and the development of adult moral responsibility which comes with it."
Chief Justice Kourakis said there were other compelling reasons to allow the men extra time for rehabilitation in society.
Rigney-Brown told the court that he will tell other young Indigenous children that jail is not the life.
"I have wasted so many years in gaol and I have just had enough."
"It's no place to be."
Chief Justice Kourakis said that although their criminal record suggests poor chances of their rehabilitation, they should be given a chance to prove themselves.
"It would be harsh to deny the respondents an opportunity to prove their worth as adults because of their offending as children which arose out of circumstances over which they had little control."
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