A mentally ill methamphetamine user who violently carjacked an 89-year-old man outside his Armadale home could walk free within months, with a judge citing "outrageous" conditions at Hakea Prison as a key factor in the sentencing decision.
Violent attack on elderly victim
Coen Richard Dorizzi, 33, first stole a mobile phone from a man in his 70s outside the victim's Dawson Street home on the afternoon of November 5 last year. Approximately ten minutes later, the perpetrator targeted an even older victim - an 89-year-old man - as he parked his vehicle at his Benjamin Street residence.
The attack turned violent when Dorizzi dragged the elderly man from his car, pushed him to the ground, and stole the vehicle. The stolen car was later recovered in Gosnells the following day, coinciding with Dorizzi's arrest.
Both victims were complete strangers to their attacker. The carjacking victim required hospital treatment for injuries sustained to his wrist and hip during the assault.
Court reveals disturbing details
District Court Judge Gary Massey described how the man's horrified wife witnessed the entire attack. Judge Massey noted that outcomes for elderly victims in similar cases had often been catastrophic.
"He hits the ground reasonably hard... there was a potential for real harm," Judge Massey observed during sentencing. "Thankfully in this case, it didn't happen."
The court heard that Dorizzi, a father-of-one, had been a psychiatric in-patient months before the attacks but had not participated in outpatient programs. His mental health history included diagnoses of drug-induced psychosis, major depression, and later schizophrenia, with the judge describing him as a "chaotic individual."
Prison conditions influence sentencing
Judge Massey sentenced Dorizzi to six months for the phone theft and two-and-a-half years for the carjacking, but declined to make the terms cumulative. The decision considered Dorizzi's profound childhood deprivation and what the judge termed "unacceptable conditions" at Hakea Prison.
These conditions included frequent lockdowns that provided prisoners with only thirty minutes outside their cells each day. Despite this, the court noted that Dorizzi was being properly medicated while in custody, maintained employment within the prison, and had expressed remorse for his crimes.
The judge indicated that if Dorizzi continued on this positive path and received NDIS funding upon release, his risk of reoffending would be reduced.
With the sentence backdated to his arrest date and parole eligibility after fifteen months, Dorizzi could be released as early as February 6.
