Prosecutors are pushing for more jail time for two neo-Nazi leaders who attacked a group of hikers in a national park, arguing their original sentences were manifestly inadequate.
The pair were part of a group of far-right National Socialist Network and European Australian Movement members who set upon the hikers in May 2021.
Ten to 15 men ran toward the hikers’ car, concealed their identities and threatened the group of friends, including one with a knife.
Prosecutors at the time claimed Sewell injured his arm on a broken window, either by breaking it himself or reaching into the car, while Hersant was said to have reached through the driver’s side window to either turn off the car or take the keys.
Sewell received a 37-day jail term, reckoned as time served, while Hersant was ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid community work over 14 months.
The three days Hersant spent on remand were also noted in his sentence as time served.
Victoria’s Director of Public Prosecutions launched an appeal of their sentences, with chief crown prosecutor Brendan Kissane on Friday arguing they were manifestly inadequate.
Kissane told the state’s Court of Appeal that in her sentencing, Judge Kellie Blair had failed to recognise the “terrifying” incident was a serious example of the violent disorder offence.
Blair had also placed too much weight on the pair’s late guilty pleas and she wrongly found their prospects of rehabilitation were good, the prosecutor said.
Kissane argued the original prosecutors had pushed for a combination sentence of up to a year in jail and a community corrections order for both Sewell and Hersant.
Their current sentences did not reflect the seriousness of the offending, nor did it deter the community from committing similar crimes, he said.
But Sewell’s barrister Dermott Dann told the court the DPP’s case was “highly questionable”.
He said Blair rightly took into account Sewell’s onerous six months in custody during the COVID-19 pandemic, in which he had spent most of his time in solitary confinement.
The sentencing judge also gave correct weight to Sewell’s plea as it avoided the need for a trial with witnesses being called, Dann said.
He said Corrections Victoria had correctly assessed Sewell’s prospects through the usual approach, rather than being focused on his political views.
Hersant’s barrister Christopher Carr said his client’s “entrenched views” would not predispose him to reoffending or affect his prospects of rehabilitation.
Carr said the sentencing judge did not make an error as she properly took into account that Hersant was a young offender with no prior violent offences.
Hersant had already completed his 200 hours of unpaid community work and re-sentencing him to more jail time would hinder his rehabilitation, he said.
Victorian Court of Appeal President Justice Karin Emerton and Justices Maree Kennedy and Christopher Boyce reserved their decision until a later date.
Outside court, Sewell told reporters the appeal was a “political witch-hunt”, adding he spent his six months in solitary confinement “meditating”.
Hersant, who did not speak to journalists, is facing separate charges of intentionally performing the Nazi salute outside the County Court following his sentence.
