Local man jailed for over eight years for aggravated burglary

A local man who attacked a woman in the home she shared with her elderly parents causing them to fear for their lives was sentenced by the Supreme Court to eight and a half years.

Karl Danino, 40, admitted to charges of threats to kill and aggravated burglary days before trial and was sentenced on Tuesday morning.

The court heard how in March 2024 Danino was in St Joseph’s Estate uttering generic abuse and threats towards residents and brandishing what appeared to be two screwdrivers.

Danino called the RGP complaining about residents bothering him, evincing an intention to stab someone.

Minutes later he made his way over to the victims’ residence, kicked the front door and gained access, where inside the residence was an elderly couple and their daughter.

The daughter found Danino within the residence at the bottom of a staircase holding a large metal pole.

“You walked up towards her brandishing the pole saying, in Spanish, words to the effect of: ‘I am going to kill someone. I am fed up’,” Chief Justice Anthony Dudley said.

“You then swung the pole and attempted to strike her.”

Mr Justice Dudley described how the daughter feared for her life and that of her parents and had attempted to disarm Danino by pinning his arms against a wall.

She was able to disarm him, and then he pulled a metal pick from his pocket and repeatedly tried to stab her torso.

The Chief Justice said Danino was clearly intending to inflict serious injury, but she was able to defend herself and subdue him.

The daughter sustained bruising, abrasions, and an 8mm incisional injury to her lower abdomen, and with the help of her elderly father, they managed to restrain Danino.

“She then hugged you and calmed you down whilst her mother called the police,” the Chief Justice said.

When the police arrived, Danino was still being restrained. Police found the metal pole and metal pick used to assault the complainant, and police also found a screwdriver on the defendant.

The Chief Justice said the complainant reacted to a “violent and frightening situation with courage and presence of mind”.

“But that courage and presence of mind, does not diminish the long term impact which the offending has had on her,” Mr Justice Dudley said.

Since the incident she has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and she lives in fear that it could happen again.

The court heard she felt she had had no option but to leave the home she shared with her parents.

Mr Justice Dudley read out her victim impact statement, where she said: “The events of that night did not just take away my sense of safety, they took away my peace, my confidence, and the joy that defined my life. Now, every day feels like a struggle to reclaim even a small piece of who I was. I’m in constant fight or flight mode, and it is exhausting not being able to switch it off.”

The parents also live with nightmares and anxiety, their statement described how the event has left them “broken in ways that can never be undone”.

Danino also faced a separate matter, which took place months later in October 2024 during a medical consultation.

Danino told a consultant psychiatrist that he wanted to kill a GP, stating he was training at the gym to take revenge on this doctor, who he said had not prescribed medication he wanted.

The court heard about Danino’s substance abuse issues and how he was suffering from withdrawal when the threats were made, adding that he has since expressed remorse.

At the time of aggravated burglary, Danino was under the influence of drugs and after the incident accepted culpability and also expressed remorse.

Mr Justice Dudley sentenced Danino to eight years and one month for aggravated burglary and 20 weeks for threats to kill.

As the offences were wholly distinct, Mr Justice Dudley ordered for the sentences to be served consecutively, meaning Danino will serve a total of eight years and six months.

After delivering the sentence, the Chief Justice told Danino that he hopes he uses his time in prison to tackle his substance abuse issue.

“I hope you come out of prison a new man without the need to turn to drugs and alcohol,” Mr Justice Dudley said.

Jenny Allen and Justin Rodriguez appeared for the Crown.

Neil Costa, Jamie Hammond and Jeevan Daswani represented the defendant.