Caleb Oreste Sceghi jailed for beating and robbing friend he believed was injecting drugs into juveniles

A man beat and robbed a friend because he believed they were selling and injecting drugs into juveniles, a court was told. Caleb Oreste Sceghi decided to “take the law into his hands” when he happened across the friend he believed had been injecting drugs into juveniles. Seeing him riding a scooter on November 17, 2023, the then 30-year-old decided to follow him in his car. The victim was scared and rode through a theatre and came out another exit to avoid Sceghi. Another car then drove towards the victim and another person grabbed the handlebars and pulled the scooter away from the victim. After attempting to run away, the victim fell to the ground and Sceghi kicked him in the head and chest as the victim curled into a ball to protect himself. Sceghi then took the victim’s backpack, picked up his scooter and drove away. The victim then called his friend to pick him up and that friend drove their car into the car Sceghi was in. Sceghi then threw a metal pole and smashed the windscreen of the car. Now aged 32, he was sentenced for robbery, endanger life, health or safety and wilfully destroy property in District Court on Monday. The offending breached four intensive supervision orders Sceghi had been placed on six months prior for a common assault which saw him challenge a victim to a fight near the Exchange Hotel before punching him in the face. He was also sentenced for an assault occasioning bodily harm in which he and others attended a home and yelled at a victim to come out before someone dragged the victim out, and he kicked and punched them in the head and body and punched them in the face when they stood up. Judge Michael Bowden said Sceghi’s lawyer conceded his downfall was because of the use of drugs starting from the age of 24 which resulted in his life “spiralling”. “You ultimately lost your job, you went to jail, you got out, you kept off the gear for a while, but then had relapses, and that pattern of using and then not using and relapsing is very, very hard to break,” Mr Bowden said. “You say to me that you’re remorseful and that you understand that what you did was wrong. “The person involved had been a personal friend of you . . . and you understand that you caused him fear and pain, and that you regret the breakup of your friendship. “Clearly, you had no right to take the law into your hands.” References provided in support of Sceghi described him as family orientated, respectful, dependable, trustworthy and hardworking. Mr Bowden sentenced him to two years and six months imprisonment for the three new offences, but made them be served concurrently, giving a total sentence of two years and three months. He also resentenced him to one year and five months imprisonment, but only nine of it to be served cumulatively with the new sentence. This gave an effective three years imprisonment, backdated to March 2024, with eligibility for parole after half.