Dean John Bell: Melbourne man to be jailed over role in Griffin Harris’ shooting death

[Pelican Press 0]

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Dean John Bell: Melbourne man to be jailed over role in Griffin Harris’ ********* ******

The family of a young man ******* over a $250 ***** debt have described his ****** as a “senseless tragedy” as a court was told no one would be held responsible for ********* him.

Griffin Harris, 22, was asleep in bed with his new girlfriend, Alison Sleddon, when four men attacked their Kalkallo home in Melbourne’s north in the early morning of September 21, 2022.

One of the men, Dean John Bell, 33, returned before the Victorian Supreme Court on Wednesday for a presentence hearing after pleading guilty to ********* by firearm.

Camera IconThe court was told Dean Bell was a friend of Mr Harris and hated himself for his involvement in the ******.

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Credit: Supplied

Prosecutor Jenaya Ellis told the court that Ms Sleddon woke as Peter Batsanes, 21, and Troy Allen Smith, 26, began ******** and kicking the front door at 4.10am.

She tried to rouse Mr Harris, who remained in a confused state, before leaving the bedroom hoping to lock the home’s side laundry door.

But in the hallway of the home a masked man aimed a rifle at her head and she fled through the front door “terrified”.

“As she ran away she heard ‘get the f–k down’ and the deceased saying ‘Ally help’,” Ms Ellis said.

Mr Harris was found in a bedroom with a gunshot wound to his chest and declared ***** shortly after police and paramedics arrived about 5.30am.

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==Camera IconGriffin Harris was shot ***** in his girlfriend’s home.

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Credit: Supplied

The court was told Bell had been captured on CCTV with another man, Lachlan Belmore, 25, climbing over the back fence of the property shortly before the *********.

Both were initially charged with *******; however, these charges were dropped earlier this year.

Belmore pleaded guilty to manslaughter by unlawful and dangerous act after prosecutors accepted they could not prove he had entered the home or shot Mr Harris.

He was jailed for nine years in May, with Justice Rita Incerti noting he was “central” to the plot to confront and threaten Mr Harris.

But on Wednesday, Ms Ellis said the prosecution accepted Bell did not enter the home after jumping the back fence.

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==Camera IconLachlan Belmore was jailed for a minimum of 5½ years in May. NewsWire / David Geraghty Credit: News Corp Australia

Instead, she said, he would be sentenced “on the basis he was party to an agreement, arrangement or understanding the deceased would be confronted by a loaded firearm”.

Crown prosecutor Jane Warren said Bell had described Mr Harris as a friend but fled the scene knowing that he’d been shot – showing a “complete disregard for ********”.

The court was told Belmore had recruited the three other men and sourced the **** to confront Mr Harris after the pair had a falling out over a $250 ***** debt.

Days before the *********, Mr Harris had driven past Belmore’s home and thrown a brick at his car after a series of ****** messages.

Bell’s barrister Glenn Casement called for his client to receive a “significantly” lower sentence than Belmore, who he said was the “principal offender”.

He said Bell had suffered a deprived and traumatic childhood, was remorseful for his role in the ****** and had committed himself to reform while in custody.

“I didn’t expect for him to get *******. I hate myself for being involved … I feel deeply sorry,” the court was told Bell had said.

Members of Mr Harris’ family told the court their lives had been devastated by the “senseless tragedy” of his ******.

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==Camera IconBelmore was an aspiring rapper known as ‘Drips’. Supplied Credit: Supplied

Mum Lorraine Harris shed tears as she said her heart had been broken by her son’s ******.

“I mourn for everything Griffin will no longer be able to do … the list is endless,” she said.

“I have so many unanswered questions I know will go unanswered.”

Dad Kevin Harris told the court that he no longer experienced enjoyment in life and visited his son’s gravesite multiple times a week.

“Our lives have changed dramatically without our choice,” he said.

Bell will be the first person sentenced on the charge of ********* by firearm, which was introduced in 2020, when he returns before Justice Incerti at a later date.

Batsanes and Smith both pleaded guilty to home invasion in September last year.

In December the same year, Batsanes was jailed for three years and six months, while Smith received a four years and six month sentence of imprisonment.

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