By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A dramatic car crash thwarted two armed kidnappers in their long and terrifying extortion attempt of a man in the South East.
Victoria Po’oi, 35, of Cranbourne North, and Conrad Tuala, 32, of Hampton Park, pleaded guilty in the Victorian County Court to kidnapping, theft and driving offences.
During the abduction, the man was driven from a meeting point in Melbourne’s west to stops in Cranbourne, Hampton Park and Noble Park on the night of 26 June 2021.
Tuala demanded “we want $1000 each” from the victim, who said he didn’t have the money.
Through the night the victim was beaten and threatened. His car and phone were stolen by his abductors.
At points, the kidnappers threatened to kill him, to smash up his mum’s house, swung a tomahawk close to him, and punched him in the head.
He was told he’d be taken to “the farm” – which the victim took to mean being taken to the bush and being killed.
At Tuala’s home, the victim was masked and tied to a chair while Tuala pressed a gun barrel into his mouth.
Po’oi later drove off with the victim in his own Honda Civic as she aimed a loaded gun at him.
Then Tuala rang Po’oi’s phone, which had been grabbed and smuggled by the victim in his jacket.
Po’oi said: “What the f***”, took her hand off the steering wheel and pointed the gun at the victim.
Her foot hit the accelerator, she lost control of the Civic and crashed into a fence in Hampton Park.
As the car’s airbags were deployed, she dropped the gun and the victim punched her in the head several times.
In a struggle, Po’oi fell out of the car on a nature strip. She was restrained by a bystander, who also secured the gun.
Tuala drove up in his BMW and fled from police at the scene. He later fled with family members to NSW where he was arrested.
He was also charged with persistently breaching a family violence intervention order.
At Po’oi’s house, police seized an MDMA tablet and a small amount of powder containing heroin.
Sentencing judge Peter Lauristen said the “prolonged” and “terrifying” ordeal involved a series of assaults and threats against the victim.
“One can safely assume the entire incident was terrifying for the victim of the kidnapping.
“The kidnapping was the idea of Tuala and he took the lead. But Po’oi was an active participant, assaulting and threatening the victim.”
The judge noted Tuala had been guilty of 59 previous charges and jailed nine times including for armed robbery. He was on a community corrections order at the time.
Po’oi had been guilty of 31 charges, without going to jail. She was on bail at the time.
The New Zealand-born Po’oi’s childhood deprivation including being exposed to violence was taken into account. She faced possible deportation after her release from jail.
Judge Lauritsen rated both of their rehabilitation prospects as “reasonable”.
Tuala was jailed for 45 months, including a 30-month non-parole period. His term included 798 days in pre-sentence detention.
Po’oi was jailed for three years, with a two-year non-parole period. She had already served 614 days of the term in pre-sentence detention.
