Victim’s shock at sentence

TWO-AND-A-HALF years in jail for an attempted armed robbery was an inadequate sentence, according a father who was chased across Toowoomba by a drug-affected gunman.

Adnun Khan said it was hard to forget the night his daughter’s life was threatened by David Patrick Sjerp, 39.

“My daughter still mentions the ‘bad guy that chased us,’ so she definitely remembers,” he said.

“My wife got really scared that night.”

Sjerp approached the family at The Ridge shopping centre car park, about 8pm on January 22.

He brandished a fake pistol and gestured to Mr Khan that he wanted money.

Fearing for the lives of his wife and four-year-old daughter, Mr Khan drove off.

Sjerp followed them for about 10 minutes and at one point the would-be robber cornered the family in Yarrow Close.

“He blocked us in and I had to drive over the footpath to get away,” Mr Khan said at the time.

During the ordeal, Mr Khan’s wife was on the phone with police who suggested they lead the gunman to Toowoomba station.

Yesterday, Toowoomba District Court Judge Tony Rafter SC sentenced Sjerp to twoand-a-half years in jail, after he pleaded guilty to attempted armed robbery.

Judge Rafter set Sjerp’s parole date at December 2.

The sentence is a fraction of what Mr Khan wanted.

After speaking with police and the crown prosecutor, Mr Khan said he expected Sjerp would get up to 10 years, not two and a half.

While the gun was fake, the fear it caused was real.

“I don’t think that is adequate, to be honest,” he said.

Despite the short sentence the family was keen to put the matter behind them.

“We have a camera in our car now, so if anything like that happens again, we will record it,” Mr Khan said.

“Other than that, we are moving on with life.”

michael.nolan@thechronicle.com.au