Toowoomba-raised man is spared deportation
AFL player jailed in Vic
A SUDANESE immigrant who left Toowoomba to follow dreams of playing AFL has been spared being sent back to the country of his birth by a Melbourne judge.
Majok Aneet appeared in Victoria’s County Court last month after pleading guilty to burglary and recklessly causing injury charges arising from an incident where a man was beaten and robbed of his phone and laptop in an attempt to retrieve a sex tape.
Judge Andrew Tinney ordered Aneet serve a nine-anda-half month prison term and be subject to a two-year community corrections order after hearing he was not the instigator of the north-west Melbourne incident and acted as a look-out.
The victim of the attack had been punched and stomped on.
Under Commonwealth legislation, his humanitarian visa would have been cancelled if he received a sentence of 12 months or more.
The court heard Aneet had arrived in Toowoomba with extended family as a 10-yearold, excelling in rugby despite his mother and father remaining in Sudan, but had left for Melbourne to complete Year 12 and pursue an Australian rules football career after “getting into strife” in the Garden City.
“You still have the hope that you may be a professional footballer and I have been told in the course of the plea that some interest has been expressed by connections of an AFL club,” Judge Tinney said.
Given Aneet had already spent 234 days in custody, Judge Tinney ordered that a release date of early February be set.