Michael Rattenbury, now aged 42, and Troy Vlahos, now 32, were arrested after shots were fired around Beach Road at Denhams Beach. Photo: Google Maps.
After being abandoned by his co-offender who had just stolen a motorbike, Troy Vlahos got into an altercation with their victim that resulted in shots being fired on a main road near Batemans Bay.
Michael Rattenbury was carrying a backpack, which contained a 12-gauge double-barrelled shotgun, when he and Vlahos drove his own car to the home of a man selling a Harley-Davidson motorbike on 12 January 2024.
Rattenbury took the motorbike for a test drive, leaving behind his own car and Vlahos with the backpack. He did not return.
After about an hour and a half, Vlahos and the man took Rattenbury’s car to look for him.
While they were driving, they got into an altercation during which the shotgun was produced and fired twice around Beach Road in Denhams Beach, which is about 6 km southeast of Batemans Bay.
The gun was then thrown out of the car before the man escaped from the vehicle and Vlahos drove off.
Police found the weapon on the road, but it could not be proved who fired the gun, Judge Andrew Haesler told the NSW District Court when sentencing Rattenbury and Vlahos on Thursday (26 June).
Vlahos had texted Rattenbury about a month after the incident.
“You know you f-ing dogged me,” he said.
“How about next time you organise a game plan.
“You bailed on me. Just left me with it.”
Rattenbury, 42, pleaded guilty to possessing a shortened firearm and stealing a motor vehicle. Vlahos, 32, pleaded guilty to possessing a shortened firearm and accessory after the fact to stealing a motor vehicle.
Judge Haesler noted it had been a disturbing incident and the pair, who are both from the Shoalhaven, pleaded guilty to slightly different facts.
He said Vlahos didn’t know the theft of the Harley-Davidson was about to occur, but afterwards realised it had, then did what he could to help Rattenbury escape.
Rattenbury had claimed he wanted to get the motorbike as it had been “ripped off” from one of his friends, so by stealing it he was doing “a good deed”.
Judge Haesler said he gave these claims little weight on sentencing.
Rattenbury had also written a letter for the court, apologising for his crimes.
“With one stupid action, I’ve proved two wrongs don’t make a right,” he said.
Judge Haesler said possessing a firearm was a privilege that was strictly guarded and the shotgun’s presence in the community and the car created a real potential danger.
“That gun was left in the street where it could have been taken by someone else,” he said.
The men have remained in custody since their arrests.
Defence barrister Eugene Renard said Vlahos’ past crimes had been committed in the context of his drug use over the years, but since going into prison for this incident 13 months ago, he had stopped using drugs.
The father of four was sentenced to two years and two months’ jail with one year and two months’ non-parole. As his sentence was backdated to account for time served, he will be released in July 2025.
Rattenbury was sentenced to two years and 10 months’ jail with one year and nine months’ non-parole, which means he will be released in December 2025.
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