A former soldier menaced a glamorous dog shelter worker at gunpoint during a horrifying military-style raid to rescue his cat.
Bailey Scarlett, who is well known on Instagram and was once linked to Justin Bieber, had been working late-night shift at the Melbourne Lost Dogs Home when Tony Wittman, 45, stormed the building dressed in full camouflage and packing what appeared to be an assault rifle.
The former soldier, who served two tours in Afghanistan, was on Friday sentenced to spend six years behind bars, with a non-parole period of three years.
Ms Scarlett slammed Wittman as the ‘worst kind of evil’ when she bravely confronted her tormentor in court.
A brave Bailey Scarlett faced off with her tormentor in court
Wittman blamed the incident on post-traumatic stress disorder caused by service in East Timor and Afghanistan, which he claims he visited twice each
Animal carer and Instagram model Bailey Scarlett bravely addressed the ex-soldier
The County Court of Victoria heard Wittman – an avid Star Wars cosplayer – went to the building ‘prepared for war’ after losing his precious cat three days earlier.
Ms Scarlett had been on her way inside and initially believed Wittman was a special operations group policeman when she wound down her window and engaged the gunman.
Her worst fears came to fruition when Wittman jammed the gun in her face.
‘If you do as I say and listen to me I will not shoot you,’ he told the terrified mum.
‘Please don’t shoot me, I have a two-year old boy,’ she pleaded with Wittman, who coldly ignored her cries.
‘Don’t try anything or I will shoot you,’ he barked. ‘Co-operate or I will shoot you.’
Wittman, 45, claimed his unhinged actions were the result of his desperation to get his cat back from the shelter as it had helped him through episodes of post-traumatic stress disorder
Armed with an assault weapon and dressed in full military-style clothing, Tony Wittman held Bailey Scarlett at gunpoint as she showed up for a late-night shift at the Melbourne Lost Dogs Home
Wittman had made an appointment for January 12 last year to pick up his cat from the home, but decided the night before that he couldn’t wait.
He went at 8pm, two hours after the home closed to the public, and came back at 10.30pm as Ms Scarlett arrived for work.
Wittman demanded to know where the cats were kept and after Ms Scarlett said she didn’t have keys for the cat he placed his finger on the trigger.
‘Get down on your knees and put your hands behind your back,’ he told Ms Wittman, who began to beg for her life.
‘Please don’t … please don’t shoot me,’ she cried.
‘If you turn around and put your hands behind your back I won’t shoot you,’ Wittman insisted.
Bailey Scarlett had been working as an animal welfare worker when her life was turned upside down by a crazed gunman
Ms Scarlett pleaded with Wittman not to bound her hands behind her back, but he did so anyway with cable ties.
He then told her to count to 100 before attempting to call for help.
‘I’m going to close this door, if I see you, I’ll shoot you,’ Wittman told her.
The court heard Ms Scarlett waited five agonising minutes before calling her boss while her hands were still tied behind her back.
Tony Wittman (pictured left) dressed as a biker scout from the Star Wars movies
‘Help me, there is a man with a gun, call police,’ she whispered down the phone.
She then rang her partner who also called 000.
Ms Scarlett, who tuned into Friday’s hearing via videolink, faced-off with Wittman during his preliminary hearing last week.
‘You really are the worst kind of evil human that makes the newspaper headlines today,’ Ms Scarlett told Wittman.
‘You came prepared for war, and a war against a totally defenceless animal welfare carer,’ she said.
‘All of this over something I was not responsible for.’
The court heard Ms Scarlett remained terrified Wittmann would come back and find her.
‘He was so cold and aggressive,’ she recalled. ‘I honestly thought he would shoot me and the animals.’
Instagram model Bailey Scarlett now lives in fear that a crazed gunman will return to finish her off
Bailey Scarlett (left) told the court Wittman had destroyed her capacity to be happy again
The court heard Ms Scarlett had struggled to recover from her ordeal and now suffered a variety of psychological issues.
‘There is no fix, nothing will ever heal me. I will forever suffer the anxiety,’ she told the court.
Wittman managed to escape the shelter before police arrived.
Officers found a dumped military-style vest and weapons including a tomahawk and imitation flash bangs in bushland nearby.
The following day he kept his appointment to pick up the cat.
While Wittman initially denied any involvement in the raid, he later admitted to what he’d done, claiming he had a ‘brain meltdown’.
‘The only thing I really treasure in this world is that cat and it was taken away from me,’ he told police.
Bailey Scarlett was held at gunpoint while working at a Melbourne animal shelter
The court heard Wittman attributed his actions as a result of his desperation to get back the cat that had helped him through episodes of post-traumatic stress disorder, itself the result of 16 years in the Australian Army.
He claimed to police he had been to East Timor and Afghanistan twice each, and to Aceh after the Boxing Day Tsunami.
But Australian Defence Force records show he was a reservist for just two days shy of two years between 1995 and 1997, discharged for failure to provide efficient service.
Wittman, who had actually used an imitation firearm for the doomed raid, pleaded guilty to five charges including false imprisonment, aggravated burglary with an offensive weapon, and perjury.
In sentencing Wittman, County Court Judge Duncan Allen accepted the villain suffered complex post traumatic stress disorder and had endured a wretched childhood.
He has already served 410 days behind bars.
