Wengao Zheng (left) and Xiantao Shang (right) leave the ACT courts after their arrests. Photos: Albert McKnight.
Two men who invaded a couple’s home while trying to recover a personal debt, possibly worth up to $125,000, both avoided jail when they were sentenced.
Xiantao Shang, 38, was found guilty of one count of burglary and two counts of assault, all by joint commission, at the end of a judge-alone trial in the ACT Supreme Court this year.
His friend and co-offender, 46-year-old Wengao Zheng, pleaded guilty over his involvement.
Last week, Shang was convicted and sentenced to one year and nine months’ imprisonment, which was fully suspended, allowing him to enter into a good behaviour order for that period.
“The character references provided on behalf of the offender demonstrate that apart from this one incident, he is known to be a kind and gentle individual,” Justice Verity McWilliam said in her sentencing remarks.
“He is entitled to leniency, and I am satisfied that what occurred was an isolated event in the offender’s life.
“The whole process and expense of undergoing a criminal trial, coupled with the two days in custody, has, in my view, served as sufficient immediate punishment and personal deterrence for this offender.”
Justice McWilliam previously said Shang and Zheng claimed a woman called ‘Linda’ owed them a combined $125,000 in what was apparently a gambling-related debt.
‘Linda’ kept avoiding them, but they thought they managed to track her down with the assistance of her former lover.
On the evening of 25 June 2023, they went to the Belconnen apartment where they expected to find her, but a different woman opened the door.
It was alleged that the pair, whom this woman had never seen before, barged into the apartment uninvited and, while speaking Mandarin, demanded to speak to a person whose name she didn’t immediately recognise.
The men were told to leave, but didn’t and continued demanding to see this person.
“You are trespassing and I don’t even know this person who you are talking about,” the woman’s husband said he told them.
After the husband told the pair to get out of their home, a scuffle broke out in the hallway. The pair allegedly kicked and punched the husband and wife multiple times in their faces and bodies.
During and after the assault, the couple said they heard Zheng say, “I am ex-special forces. Do you think you can beat me up?” and “Do you know what we do in China? We were in the special forces”.
The husband and wife were left with bruises all over their bodies after the assault.
Zheng went on to admit that he had told them he was from the special forces in China, but this was a lie; he had never been in the military.
Justice McWilliam said the motivation for the burglary was the personal recovery of a debt and she was not satisfied there was any difference in the roles and culpability of the offenders when it came to the burglary.
But she did accept Shang’s role during the assault on the female victim, which was less serious than Zheng’s.
Shang was born in China, had a positive upbringing, and moved to Australia in 2016, becoming a permanent resident.
He has been self-employed in the construction industry since 2021 and has had no prior criminal history.
Zheng was sentenced to one year and 10 months’ jail, suspended for him to enter into a good behaviour order and perform 100 hours of community service in 2024.
Justice McWilliam noted the facts he was sentenced on were substantially different from those in Shang’s trial.
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