Jail for role in bloody attack

“IT’S Sven”.

This is what former Nomad bikie Sven Christian Kelly told occupants of a Gold Coast home before a group of balaclava-wearing Pacific Islander men armed with machetes burst through a door and hunted occupants down like animals in August 2016.

Kelly was yesterday sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison over his involvement in the bloody home invasion which left a man in intensive care.

The 46-year-old father was given a parole eligibility date of February 21, 2020 after he pleaded guilty in Southport District Court to grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning bodily harm while armed in company and entering a dwelling with intent.

The court was told Kelly did not inflict any actual physical harm during the savage attack at a Bayrick St home in Pacific Pines.

Kelly arrived at the house to buy cannabis and amphetamines before the group of men arrived unhappy about a drug debt, the court was told.

When the group of six to eight men burst through the front door of the house, occupant Werner Hayton was stabbed so viciously he spent nine days in intensive care.

Fellow occupants Christian Maunder and Keiran Patrick Gray hid behind the door of a room in the house when the group entered and one of the men, Taylor Ruatara, forced the door open and punched one of the men in the face.

One of the occupants had his kneecap cut so badly it was “effectively severed in two”.

Ruatara pleaded guilty in the Brisbane Supreme Court this year to the murder of Gold Coast Nomads associate Jason Boyd.

He was also dealt with in relation to the Pacific Pines home invasion this year.

After Mr Boyd’s death in December 2016, Kelly was granted bail so he could attend the 41-year-old’s funeral.

In court yesterday, defence barrister Nick McGhee said Kelly had an excellent work history which included an eight-year stint as a security manager in Surfers Paradise.

Mr McGhee said Kelly attended the house to buy drugs on the day of the bashing because he had turned to drugs after being unable to work because of an injury.

Judge Richard Jones said the level of violence exhibited in the house was “extraordinary” but Kelly should not be sentenced as the principal offender.

“It’s a disgraceful example of violence,” Judge Jones said.

“(The men inside) have effectively been sought out and hunted like animals.”