A tough-talking judge who berated two thugs for stabbing drug kingpin Tony Mokbel told the pair they would ‘have six kids by six different mums’ in a courtroom dressing-down.
Teira Bennett and Eldea Teuira, both 22, were given seven years in prison for stabbing Mokbel in the exercise yard of Victoria’s Barwon Prison in February 2019.
In sentencing remarks which have since gone viral, Judge Gaynor told the pair ‘no one would care’ about their exploits in 20 years time.
In fact, it was just one of a series of scathing verbal attacks given to the criminals in the courtroom, something Judge Gaynor has become well-known for.
‘You’ll have six kids by six different mothers, and if you’re still using [drugs], you’ll probably assault them. They’ll be kids you’ll never see,’ she lambasted the pair.
‘You’ll burn off your brothers and sisters who will get sick of you, and the only ones who will care for you are your parents.
Judge Elizabeth Gaynor berated Teira Bennett and Eldea Teuira in court yesterday over the prison stabbing of Tony Mokbel
‘When you’re 40 you see what GFAM and the bros do for you. You’ll end up drag-raddled, lonely old men.’
The pair, who are members of the gang GFAM, entered Victoria Country Court laughing on Wednesday, but Judge Elizabeth Gaynor was distinctly unimpressed.
She painted a grim picture of the lives the men could expect if they continued to offend and suggested they were both cowards for the attack on Mokbel.
‘At the end of the day you two young blokes – two on one – mauled and maimed a 53-year old man,’ she said.
‘Let me tell you, gentleman, in a few years GFAM and the bros are not going to do it for you … you’re going to want a life,’ she lambasted Teuira and Bennett in court on Wednesday.
‘You may think you’re heroes within the jail but do you think in 20 years time that’s going to matter?’
‘You may think you are heroes standing up for GFAM the way you reckon you did on this occasion, but the only reason you are getting any attention is because it was Tony Mokbel.’
Judge Elizabeth Gaynor warned Teira Bennett (pictured) that he would go on to have six kids to six different women if he doesn’t turn his life around
The former barrister, who has been a judge in Victoria’s County Court for 17 years, is known among legal circles for her no-holds-barred approach.
Judge Gaynor told A Current Affair in 2018 that her tough stance towards thugs stems from caring for her own children.
‘People probably don’t think about this, but judges live in the community too. I don’t want to live in a community that’s unsafe and dangerous and crawling with criminals,’ she said.
‘I think the community thinks we’re out of touch, that we’re too soft, that we live in some sort of luxurious gated community.
‘You don’t want your kids to go to a tough high school because of the mates they might pick up. But imagine the potency of jail – it’s a thousand times worse.’
Judge Gaynor berated Eldea Teuira (pictured) for his attack on drug lord Tony Mokbel
Judge Gaynor said no one comes into the world wanting to be a judge and you would be a ‘psycho’ if that was the case.
She said the courts are under attack from growing public scrutiny.
‘I’ll read a report of something we’ve done in the paper and you’d think, if I didn’t know what was going on, that the Judge was a complete idiot,’ Judge Gaynor said.
‘Because that’s the way we’re presented, as if we have no reason for doing what we do.’
Despite her hardened shell, David Galbally QC, who has known Judge Gaynor for years, described the mother-of-two as a ‘thoroughly decent human being’.
‘She has all the emotions that we all have as human beings,’ he said.
‘It’s very difficult for judges to have to deal with matters like this.’
Tony Mokbel (pictured) is treated by paramedics after being attacked in jail in what has been described as a ‘snuff movie’
Mokbel was unable to move from the moment he was attacked and failed to defend himself as the pair assaulted him