A man who bundled an alleged drug-debtee into a car in Cranbourne and demanded $1000 from parents for his safe release has seemingly avoided deportation.
Christoper Pasi pleaded guilty at the Victorian County Court to false imprisonment and common-law assault.
Pasi, 30, and with no fixed address at the time, was filling up a Mercedes at a High Street servo as the victim walked past on 30 September 2023.
Judge Andrew Palmer said Pasi used his superior size and strength to force the victim to “do what he was told”.
The victim was forced inside the back of the vehicle and to later sit down and “shut up” on the floor of a unit’s garage in Sharpe Street.
The victim’s phone rang. Pasi spoke to the victim’s parents, while the victim cried and yelled to his mum for help.
After the call, Pasi punched the victim twice in the face and ordered him to clean up his blood off the floor.
Pasi showed the victim a bag of bullets, saying: “One of them is for you and the others are for your family.”
Mum rang again, Pasi told her the victim took drugs from someone and didn’t pay. The victim was “dead”, he said.
“Give me the $1000 and (he) will be free.”
After about an hour, the victim was forced inside a Commodore and dropped off in Clyde North.
According to a prosecution summary, Pasi was arrested by Special Operations Group police at a property in Hallam five months later.
In sentencing on 18 September, Judge Palmer said the violent ordeal would have been “frightening” for the victim and given his parents “serious concerns for his safety”.
The offending was serious, but not in the highest range, the judge noted.
After some stints in a youth justice centre, Pasi had gone 10 years without offending.
However, the father-of-four lost his job as a forklift driver during Covid. He hadn’t worked since and descended into daily meth abuse – and hence back into crime.
The best way for Pasi to avoid reoffending and being deported was to stop using meth and start working again, Judge Palmer told him.
He had “done really well” since released on CISP bail in late 2024, which was a good sign for his rehabilitation.
On the other hand, Pasi had since given a “minimalizing” account of his offending.
Judge Palmer stated Pasi would avoid a 12-month jail sentence, which would trigger his potential deportation to his New Zealand homeland.
“You’ve shown you can get back on track, so there’s no reason why you cannot do it.”
Pasi was jailed for 284 days – which was already served in pre-sentence remand – and given a two-year supervised community correction order.
The CCO included 150 hours of unpaid work and treatment for drug, alcohol and mental health issues.
