\u201cYou deny hearing voices, but … it\u2019s most likely you were suffering from auditory hallucinations,\u201d Judge Lance told the defendant. <\/p>\n
Court documents state Su\u2019a and the other man had been casually acquainted when Su\u2019a went to the house around 3pm on a Thursday with a small paring knife in his pocket and a list of grievances. <\/p>\n
Parts of the hour-and-a-half confrontation that followed were filmed by the defendant. <\/p>\n
\u201cMr Su\u2019a believed that [the neighbour] frequently hosted gatherings with family and friends,\u201d the agreed summary of facts states. \u201cMr Su\u2019a believed that he was the subject of discussions at these gatherings where he was \u2018harassed, abused and exploited\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Stay calm\u2019<\/p>\n
As soon as the man opened the door to his home, Su\u2019a stepped inside without invitation and started punching him in the head. At some point during the struggle that ensued, the neighbour\u2019s son fell against the glass door with such force that he smashed it, cutting his knee.<\/p>\n
The boy\u2019s father, meanwhile, was rendered unconscious after Su\u2019a kneed him in the face while he fell to the ground. <\/p>\n
\u201cMr Su\u2019a told them both [before knocking out the father] to stay calm, that everything will be alright if they just listened and answered the questions he had for them,\u201d court documents state. <\/p>\n
Su\u2019a and the neighbour\u2019s son both moved the still-unconscious victim to the living room couch before he instructed the 12-year-old to draw the curtains, then sit beside his father. He began interrogating the man when he revived. <\/p>\n
\u201cMr Su\u2019a asked them why he had been overhearing them talk about him, trying to understand how he had become a person of interest to them,\u201d the summary of fact states. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat exactly had you overheard us talk about?\u201d the adult victim asked. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t work like that,\u201d Su\u2019a responded, insisting that they knew exactly what he was talking about. <\/p>\n
The father said he had to go pick up his daughter from school, expressing worry if she was left alone, but Su\u2019a would not let them leave. <\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s not coming back here to see this,\u201d he said, instructing the son to call someone else to retrieve her. <\/p>\n
The questioning continued, and when the neighbour still couldn\u2019t answer to his satisfaction, Su\u2019a roundhouse kicked him to the head, causing him to lose consciousness for the second time and fall on top of his son. <\/p>\n
The defendant\u2019s paranoia deepened when the 12-year-old offered condolences for one of Su\u2019a\u2019s sisters who had died that morning. He asked how they knew about her, his paranoia seeming to deepen, and the boy explained that Su\u2019a had mentioned it himself.<\/p>\n
Seven stabs<\/p>\n
After the adult victim regained consciousness a second time, Su\u2019a continued his interrogation and again insisted he was being lied to. <\/p>\n
The victim apologised profusely and begged him to stop, but instead Su\u2019a showed him another knife he had retrieved from their kitchen. He slowly pushed it into the other man\u2019s leg six times.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr Su\u2019a watched [his] face while pushing the knife in further, until [he] would appear to almost pass out,\u201d documents state. \u201cMr Su\u2019a resumed questioning [him], asking when they began speaking about him and his family.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter an extended period of questioning, Mr Su\u2019a became visibly enraged at [the neighbour\u2019s] refusal to elaborate further.\u201d<\/p>\n
Talutoe Su’a watched his captive victim’s face as he slowly stabbed him in the leg repeatedly, demanding answers to something the acquaintance could not answer. Photo \/ Corey Fleming <\/p>\n
He kicked the man again after he asked to leave, rendering him unconscious for the third time \u2013 this time for over a minute, with the victim unable to speak for several more minutes. He hit the man twice more in the head after he again didn\u2019t give the answers that Su\u2019a wanted.<\/p>\n
At one point during the questioning, he threatened that if the man didn\u2019t start giving more forthcoming answers, he would start hurting his son in the same manner.<\/p>\n
He also told the boy repeatedly that if he tried to escape, his father\u2019s beatings would only get worse. <\/p>\n
\u201cMr Su\u2019a only ceased his attack … when he realised that [the neighbour\u2019s] condition was deteriorating rapidly, at which point he allowed [the son] to call an ambulance,\u201d documents state. <\/p>\n
When police arrived shortly thereafter, he was still there. <\/p>\n
Two households beset by grief<\/p>\n
The neighbour was hospitalised in critical condition, suffering not only the stab wounds but two brain bleeds, a long-term concussion, a fractured eye socket, cuts above each eye and a hole through his lower lip caused by his teeth. <\/p>\n
He was unable to return to work for about a month. More importantly, the man said in court this week as he faced the defendant for a victim impact statement, he was \u201cterrified\u201d he wouldn\u2019t be able to attend his father\u2019s funeral. <\/p>\n
Both men had been dealing with grief that week. The victim\u2019s father had died a day before the defendant\u2019s sister. <\/p>\n
The victim was able to leave the hospital long enough to attend the funeral in a wheelchair but had to leave early, he recalled. <\/p>\n
Since then, he said, his family has had to sell their home \u2013 which they had intended to remain in for many years \u2013 at a loss because they no longer felt safe there.<\/p>\n
While his head injuries have had long-term effects on his quality of life, the worst part for him has been seeing how it has affected his son, he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cKnowing he was exposed to that level of danger and fear is something I struggle with every day,\u201d he said, explaining that in a way it was easier for him because much of the time he was dazed or unconscious. \u201cDuring that time, [he] was the one left having to try to deal with you.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was brave, and we are incredibly proud of him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018I can\u2019t forget\u2019<\/p>\n
The boy, now 14, said in his own victim impact statement, which was read aloud to Su\u2019a by his father, that the incident was \u201cterrifying\u201d and continues to cause fear and anxiousness. <\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t forget no matter how hard I try,\u201d he wrote. \u201cI really thought we might die.\u201d<\/p>\n
He recalled Su\u2019a also threatening to send other family members or gang members after the family, causing the fear to continue even after he was incarcerated awaiting trial. <\/p>\n
The son has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and \u201ccarries the emotional weight of something no child should have to witness\u201d, his mother pointed out, describing the impact on the entire family as \u201cprofound\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe find ourselves jumping at every sound,\u201d she said, recalling one night when the wind blew their gate open with a clang and they were all too afraid to go outside to investigate. <\/p>\n
Their children were crying and urging their parents to call police, she said. <\/p>\n
\u2018Nosy\u2019 neighbours<\/p>\n
In an interview before his sentencing, Su\u2019a said he now regretted the way he responded to the circumstances but insisted his neighbour had been \u201cgaslighting me over the fence\u201d and \u201claughing at me behind my back\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey knew about my sister dying and it happened that morning,\u201d he added. \u201cIt couldn\u2019t have happened without spying. I tried to explain it to police. They said I was having hallucinations.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also spoke to a psychologist for a report before his sentencing, explaining that his neighbours had \u201cbecome nosy\u201d. <\/p>\n
He said they would throw tennis balls over the fence then send their children to retrieve them, but he got especially suspicious it was a spying ploy when he found a ball in his garage. <\/p>\n
\u201cI would hear them critiquing my lifestyle and standards,\u201d he said. \u201cI thought they might have a camera to be listening through my phone. The more I tried to understand, the more irrational it seemed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Judge Simon Lance. Photo \/ Dean Purcell<\/p>\n
The judge was blunt to Su\u2019a.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was no doubt, in my view, a situation where you were suffering some mental health difficulties,\u201d he said, to which Su\u2019a initially objected but then partially conceded the spying: \u201cIt was an assumption on my part\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u2018Appalling and wrongful\u2019<\/p>\n
Su\u2019a faced up to 14 years\u2019 imprisonment for representative charges of kidnapping and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. He also pleaded guilty to threatening to kill, punishable by up to seven years\u2019 imprisonment, and assaulting a child, which carries a maximum sentence of two years. <\/p>\n
Crown prosecutor Sophie-Anne Barry suggested a 10-year starting point for the wounding charge, taking into consideration the extreme violence and serious injuries, the home invasion aspect of Su\u2019a\u2019s offending and the presence of a child. It should then be uplifted by two years for the kidnapping charge to recognise the terror and intimidation Su\u2019a inflicted on the son, she argued. <\/p>\n
She said the defence\u2019s suggested discount for Su\u2019a\u2019s schizophrenia should be tempered by the fact the defendant refuses to acknowledge it. She suggested 30% in overall discounts for his guilty plea, remorse and mental health. <\/p>\n
The defence argued for 40% in total discounts.<\/p>\n
Judge Lance ordered an 11-and-a-half year starting point for all the charges combined, then allowed 35% in discounts, resulting in an end sentence of seven and a half years\u2019 imprisonment. <\/p>\n
He noted that although Su\u2019a was not diagnosed with schizophrenia until recently, psychiatric records for him date back to 2002 when he first started experiencing paranoia. In 2017, he was convicted of common assault for an attack on another neighbour. <\/p>\n
In a letter he wrote to the court, Su\u2019a acknowledged his behaviour towards the latest victims was \u201cappalling and wrongful\u201d and said he doesn\u2019t want to ever act like that again.<\/p>\n
He blamed himself for \u201cbottling up\u201d his grievances, which led to poor decision-making amid what he described as an ongoing conflict between the households. <\/p>\n
\u201cI only hope [he] can forgive me,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n