The court heard Desacada used a diamond tester, which he pretended was a handgun, to threaten a man and attempt to carry out a robbery he had planned with others on October 14, 2021.
Desacada got into the front seat of the victim’s car while he was waiting on Longstaff St, Shepparton and told him to give him money.
He also had a large kitchen knife with him, but did not show it to the victim.
While driving under Desacada’s direction, the victim, who thought he was going to be killed, tried to escape by driving into a service station, hoping to alert customers; however, no-one was there.
The victim then drove into the Toyota dealership on the Goulburn Valley Hwy and ran into the service centre screaming out for help.
Desacada got out of the car and ran into nearby bushland empty-handed.
He was arrested 14 days after the attempted armed robbery, where he made “full and frank admissions” to police, disclosing facts that might’ve been “difficult” for them to discover.
In sentencing Desacada, Judge Richard Maidment said although his offending was over a “relatively short duration”, his offending was serious, put a “totally innocent person in fear”, and “demands” a prison sentence.
He acknowledged Desacada’s family circumstances, including the National Disability Insurance Scheme support available for his three-year-old son, who was facing health issues, and his partner’s Australian residency that was “up in the air”.
The court heard his partner was on a bridging visa seeking a protection visa, after her initial application was refused, and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal hearing was likely to take place in the next three months.
Judge Maidment said he “can’t pre-empt” the outcome of the tribunal, although he imagined it would consider the “impact” on Desacada’s partner and son’s welfare, if she were forced to leave Australia with or without his son while he was in prison.
However, Judge Maidment acknowledged that if this happened, it would “weigh heavily” on Desacada while he was serving his sentence.
Judge Maidment also noted Desacada was abusing methamphetamines at the time of the offending; however, he stopped using in 2022.
Desacada was sentenced to 12 months in prison followed by an 18-month community corrections order, which included 150 hours of unpaid community work.
As part of the order, Desacada must receive drug and mental health treatments, with up to 50 hours of these treatments able to count as community work.
Desacada’s two days of pre-sentence detention will count as time already served.
