Former soldier Michael Quintrell jailed for his role in a home invasion at Kudla in 2013. His accomplice is due to be sentence in May.
Source: Facebook
A DISABLED woman who was placed in a headlock and had a firearm held to her head during a terrifying home invasion wishes the gunmen had killed her, a court has heard.
Domenic Ietto, 27, had pleaded guilty to one aggravated count each of serious criminal trespass and attempted robbery over the violent attack he committed with former soldier Michael Quintrell, 32, and another man at the northern suburb of Kudla in 2013.
In her victim impact statement read to the District Court today, the woman said Quintrell, who was jailed for seven years last August but is eligible for parole in April next year, had gotten off lightly.
“I have no quality of life since the home invasion. I don’t see how people who do this to others are let off so lightly, especially military who are trained and are meant to be taught self discipline,” she said.
Quintrell, 32, of Port Augusta, had been suffering from post traumatic stress disorder after serving senior roles in the Australian Army, which included combat roles in Iraq and Afghanistan and a peacekeeping role in East Timor.
The court had heard the three men wore balaclavas and armed themselves with guns when they stormed the house seeking money and drugs in April 2013.
Up to five shots were fired in the attack and Ietto was stabbed in the arm when the homeowner confronted him.
The woman today said she had become an emotional wreck since the attack.
“Being hit in the head by a revolver pistol, having it held to my head pushed to my temple and also my back and being knelt on by my attackers and being thrown around until I was face down in a headlock, with knees to my back and arms across my throat — it was terrifying.”
She said she wished the men had pulled the trigger rather than leaving her to live a life of fear.
“Words alone are not enough to explain how a home invasion by three armed strangers have stolen my life, nor the fear stress and anxiety overriding depression and trauma I have to live with every day for the rest of my life,” she said.
“I feel raped and violated like my life has been taken away forever.”
The woman said justice had not been served as the third offender had never been caught.
“I live in an nightmare every single day,” she said.
“I’m a prisoner in my own head, a prisoner of fear forever that these men will be released to live a life and walk the streets I have to walk, while my life is not worth living, thanks to the three men who took everything two years ago.”
Ietto will be sentenced in May.
Disabled Kudla woman ‘wishes home invaders had killed her’
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