A Ballarat family has told a court how “powerless and afraid” they feel after a man broke into their home while they were asleep.
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“We no longer feel safe. Every noise makes us freeze and when we come home, we go through the entire house and check everything,” they said in their Victim Impact statement (VIS).
“This is our house, but it used to be our home,” they said.
The couple, who have a child and are expecting another, said they no longer feel safe and are looking for somewhere else to live but said it is difficult because “rental properties are hard to find.”
“We don’t want to raise our children in that house, or in that room where he was,” they said.
The family permitted their VIS to be read out in Ballarat Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday during a plea hearing for Jye Hynes.
Hynes, 22, appeared in custody and pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated burglary and theft.
Police prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Lisa Schoemaker said that at 1.30am on 11 September 2018, Hynes had gained entry to a Mount Pleasant house while the occupants were asleep, “looking for cash to fuel his drug habit.”
An occupant of the house awoke and, “grabbing a bat in defence” went into the computer room to find the accused sitting in a chair. The occupant spoke to Hynes and told him to leave, which he did.
The court was told that Hynes, who has an extensive criminal history, then broke into another Mount Pleasant home at 2.15am on 11 September 2018.
After gaining entry to the house where a couple and a baby were asleep, and using a mobile phone flashlight in the dark, Hynes took a bank debit card from a wallet, and then entered bedrooms, taking an iphone and a jewellery box.
While he was in the couple’s bedroom, one of the occupants awoke and the accused then fled.
Senior Constable Schoemaker said Hynes then went to a service station and attempted use the debit card but was unable to obtain cash.
Defence lawyer Scott Belcher said there was no doubt the offending was “very concerning” and that “aggravating features abound” but that his client had pleaded guilty, had already spent 54 days in custody and was supported by his 65-year-old grandmother, who was in court.
Magistrate Michelle Mykytowycz said Hynes’ offending was “brazen and extremely serious” and that people had a right to feel safe in their own homes.
“How would you feel if someone broke into your grandmother’s house while she was asleep, and made her afraid?,” she asked him.
Hynes was sentenced to six months’ jail, followed by a 12-month Community Corrections Order and 75 hours of unpaid community service.
Magistrate Mykytowycz also imposed judicial monitoring on Hynes, saying she “wanted to keep an eye on him.”
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