A Victorian judge has blasted the two young men who stabbed drug kingpin Tony Mokbel after a prison birthday party, warning the pair they would end up “drug-addled, lonely, old men”.
Teira Bennett and Eldea Teuira, both 22, bashed and stabbed Mokbel with makeshift shivs about eight times at Barwon Prison on February 11, 2019, following Bennett’s 21st birthday party.
Bennett and Teuira’s sentences were combined with their existing jail terms for previous crimes.
Bennett was sentenced to up to 11 years and two months, backdated to August 2017.
Teuira was jailed for a maximum of 10 years and 10 months, backdated to November 2017.
County Court of Victoria Judge Liz Gaynor on Wednesday said the attack was a direct result of a Herald Sun article, titled “Tony the enforcer”, that had come out the day before.
She said the attacked was carried out to reinforce the dominance of Barwon’s Pacific Islander “G-Fam” prisoner group.
Judge Gaynor blasted the two young men as she handed down their sentences.
“You may think you’re heroes in jail but do you think in 20 years’ time that’s going to matter?” she said.
“When you’re 40, you’ll see what G-Fam and the bros do for you.
“You’ll end up drug-addled, lonely, old men.”
Both men began using drugs including ice at a young age and were already serving sentences for violent crimes when they attacked Mokbel.
Judge Gaynor said when Bennett and Teuira get out of jail they will start to see their family settling down with jobs and having children and they will want that too.
“But you can’t do it. You go back on the gear because all you’ve got is your mates from jail. And then as time goes on you will have a few relationships. You’ll have a relationship here, a relationship there. You’ll have six kids by six different mothers,” she said.
She said that their siblings will “get sick of” them and the only people who will care for them is their parents.
“It is tragic to see two young lives already crashing dramatically off the rails,” Judge Gaynor said.
During the frenzied attack Bennett reportedly told Mokbel, “You’re not an enforcer. This is what you get for talking to the screws. You f***ing dog”.
As Mokbel lay bleeding, Teuira told Bennett: “Happy birthday bro.”
Judge Gaynor said the only reason the men have received so much attention is because it was Mokbel they attacked.
“At the end of the day, you two young blokes, two on one, mauled and maimed a 53-year-old man,” she said.
The judge’s blast was praised on social media, with people commenting it was “epic”.
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