While Choul waited in the car, Harrison allegedly walked down the driveway with the unnamed assailant, removed a bedroom fly screen, pushed open a window and climbed inside, where he pinned one woman to her bed, grabbed her by the throat and told her to “shut the f— up”.
When she pleaded that he had the wrong person, he allegedly said: “If it isn’t you, this will all be over” before covering her mouth.
‘Choul allegedly escaped in the car before crashing. He fled on foot, jumping fences and allegedly attempting to catch an Uber.’
The second intruder is accused of holding a phone over the victim while armed with a screwdriver, as if he was photographing her, before dragging a second woman from a spare bedroom into the first bedroom, “pushing [her] with force”.
Police, responding to reports of masked men outside, arrived to find Choul in the Genesis with the engine running.
As officers spoke with him, one victim leapt from a window, screaming for help. Police ran to her aid and entered the house, where a struggle ensued with the unnamed intruder before he fled through the back of the residence.
Harrison allegedly tried to escape through locked windows before climbing out of an open one, only to have an officer grab him and rip away his face covering.
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Amid the chaos, Choul allegedly escaped in the car, sparking a pursuit and crashing on Bligh Street. He fled on foot, jumping fences towards Railway Parade and allegedly attempting to board an Uber rideshare, but was stopped and arrested. Police seized his phone, which allegedly contained the incriminating “contract” messages.
Three days later, Karhani was stopped by police in Auburn and arrested. Officers claim his phone contained the “Yo” group chat, created by him, where details of the attack were discussed, including a message by him in the minutes following the incident, reading: “The cops came straight away, there [sic] on the run”.
Karhani was initially refused police bail and remanded in custody until being granted Supreme Court bail earlier this month.
His lawyer, Amarande Chauvet, submitted that a phone number registered in his name did not prove he sent the messages or knew of the offending. She also noted there was no evidence of any prior relationship between her client, the victims or the co-accused beyond the WhatsApp exchanges.
Neither the court documents nor the bail hearing referenced any motive or connection between the accused and the victims.
Justice Richard Weinstein accepted the Crown’s concerns that Karhani posed “unacceptable risks” of committing further offences, endangering people’s safety or interfering with witnesses, but said they could be mitigated through strict bail conditions, citing Karhani’s youth, community ties and vulnerabilities, which included “a possible intellectual disability”.
Karhani must remain on home detention, report daily to police, surrender his passport, stay away from international departure points, avoid witnesses, follow medical treatment, and abstain from alcohol and drugs.
He will next face Parramatta Local Court on September 25.
Harrison, charged with aggravated break and enter and participating in a criminal group, is due before the same court on September 11. Choul, facing the same charges plus several offences from the pursuit, will appear on September 18.
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