Two Esperance men have been found guilty of grievous bodily harm and burglary after a twelve-day District Court trial.
Aiden Lee Whetstone (36) and James Cowan Gidgup (21) had both been charged with nine different offences after they attacked and detained 66-year-old Paul Johnston on a night in April 2023.
The trial, originally expected to last a week, continued to be drawn out as complexities within the case arose with several witness statements, expert evidence and the involvement of an undercover operative.
Paul Johnston died before the commencement of the trial “in circumstances unrelated to the trial,” Judge Levy said, but his statement from the time of the incident was read to the court.
Mr Johnston had been asleep in his caravan on a property off Merivale Road when he was awoken by banging on his door some minutes past midnight.
In his evidence, Mr Johnston referred to the two masked men he saw outside his caravan as the “bigger man” and the “smaller man”.
“Then he hit me, and I went down,” the court heard from Mr Johnston’s statement.
The bigger man, found to be Mr Whetstone, hit Mr Johnston in the head with a baseball bat and the smaller man, Mr Gidgup, was said to have kicked him in the back.
A medical expert said the inquires inflicted upon Mr Johnston had the risk to cause “life threatening consequences” if they had gone untreated.
The court heard Mr Johnston’s Ute was then stolen by Whetstone and Gidgup, and Mr Johnston was taken and “dragged” against his will to a property belonging to his relative, Shiela Johnston.
After smashing the glass door of the house, Whetstone threatened and unlawfully assaulted Ms Johnston by giving her an unconsented “bear hug”, State prosecutor Katie Kemm said.
The offenders left the property with a watch, handbag and purse belonging to Ms Johnston and a cannabis plant.
Mr Johnston had fled by the time the offenders went to drive his Ute off the property.
The crashed Ute was later found by police with Whetstone’s phone inside.
Both the offenders admitted they had been present at the time of the incident but were represented by defence lawyers to prove their innocence of some counts.
Gidgup tried to argue his innocence with the defence of duress.
He told the court he wanted no part in the offence but felt he was under threat by Mr Whetstone to participate.
“I didn’t want him to flog me,” Gidgup said.
After hours of deliberation, the jury found Whetstone guilty of all nine offences including the act to maim, disfigure, disable with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm to Mr Johnston and the threat to injure Shiela Johnston.
As the aider of the attack, Gidgup was found guilty of a lesser offence of grievous bodily harm.
Both were found guilty of counts of theft, detainment of Mr Johnston and entering the properties with the intention to offend.
“These offences carry significant terms of imprisonment,” Judge Levy said to the court.
The Judge said Whetstone and Gidgup would be remanded in custody until their sentencing on May 23.
