The shooter who killed a Sydney footballer during a botched home invasion robbery known as a “drug rip” has been sentenced to at least 25 years and six months in prison.
On April 2, 2019, at about 3.45 am, Cengiz Coskun and another armed invader went over a balcony in Sydney’s Five Dock and broke into an apartment on the first floor.
The 24-year-old Parramatta FC soccer player John Odisho was killed by the then 28-year-old, who was also found guilty of an attempted robbery with a deadly weapon.
On Thursday, Justice Robert Allan Hulme of the NSW Supreme Court sentenced him to 34 years in prison with a 25 years and six months non-parole term.
In spite of Coskun’s denial, the court determined that he was the invader who shot Mr. Odisho in the head during the shootout that also resulted in Sargon Odisho, a drug dealer, being wounded in the arm.
On the site of the crime, they were two kilos of cocaine worth $500,000 as well as other narcotics and weapons.
Justice Hulme concluded that the burglars had premeditatedly planned and tried to rob a big drug supplier.
Larissa Mitchell-Wiszniewski, John Odisho’s girlfriend, was in his bedroom with him when one of the intruders pointed a pistol at her head.
The judge was certain that the anguish and agony she had gone through would stay in her mind for a very long time.
Due to his difficult background and early life, Coskun, who has a lengthy criminal record, turned to alcohol and narcotics.
The judge added that in a letter to the court, the defendant claimed that he “never brought a firearm anyplace” and mostly expressed sympathy for himself and his family.
He discovered he had no understanding of his wrongdoing and no sense of regret.
Coskun, who was also shot during the break-in, was taken into custody after seeking treatment at the Auburn hospital but refusing to identify himself or describe his wounds.