Detainee released in High Court ruling stands accused of violent home invasion

One of the men arrested at the weekend over the violent home robbery of an elderly Perth couple had been released from immigration detention last November as part of a controversial High Court ruling.

This masthead can reveal Majid Jamshidi Doukoshkan,43,is one of three men accused of an attack on Ninette and Philip Simons at their home in Girrawheen,in Perth’s northern suburbs,on April 16.

Ninette and Philip Simons were assaulted and robbed in their Girrawheen home.

Ninette and Philip Simons were assaulted and robbed in their Girrawheen home.Supplied

WA Police allege the men posed as police officers and said they had a warrant to search the home for stolen gold.

Philip,76,said they tied him up,while 73-year-old Ninette,a recent cancer survivor,was allegedly assaulted,telling media she hadthought she was going to die.

The three men allegedly fled the homewith $200,000 worth of jewellery and other items.

After a week-long manhunt,police arrested three people in relation to the incident at the weekend.

An Australian Border Force spokesman said the Department of Home Affairs knew that WA Police had arrested a person who held a bridging visa R – the visa held by the detainees released after the High Court decision – but refused to comment any further because the matter was before the courts.

Doukoshkan was charged with aggravated home burglary,robbery,impersonating a public officer,assault and detaining someone.

Ninette Simons was savagely assaulted in her home.

Ninette Simons was savagely assaulted in her home.Police Media

He was part of a group ofdetainees released from Perth’s Yongah Hill Detention Centre last November after alandmark High Court ruling found indefinite detention for detainees who could not be deported was illegal.

Following the decision,the Albanese government rushed laws through parliament that gave the Commonwealth powers to slap curfews on and electronically monitor released detainees.

Doukoshkan had a night curfew.

The government is also working on amendments to migration laws that will give it powers to force visa R holders to apply for foreign travel documents like passports that could see them removed from Australia.

Shadow minister for home affairs James Paterson and shadow minister for immigration and citizenship Dan Tehan called on their government counterparts Andrew Giles and Clare O’Neil to explain how the system they had in place to protect the community failed this couple.

“The ministers have hidden from scrutiny on this issue. They now need to stand up and answer these questions and more,” they said in a joint statement.

“The Albanese Labor government has stopped providing timely updates about how many are being monitored and what conditions are being applied to these detainees.”

They questioned why the government did not seek a preventative detention order against Doukoshkan,whether he was wearing a GPS monitor and what other conditions were placed on him at the time of the alleged offence.

Giles’ office said it generally did not comment on individual cases.

Attack arrests

Other arrests were also made over the weekend in relation to the home invasion.

Police in Perth searched several Nollamara properties and allegedly found handcuffs,a WA Police badge wallet and a WA Police brim hat,as well as items of jewellery at one of the homes.

One of the men arrested by WA Police over the weekend in relation to the Girrawheen assault and robbery.

One of the men arrested by WA Police over the weekend in relation to the Girrawheen assault and robbery.Police Media

A 38-year-old man was arrested as a result and will appear in court next month.

On Sunday,Emmy Signo,48,was arrested in the nearby suburb of Balcatta,and is accused of driving the men to and from the Girrawheen home on the night of the attack.

Soon afterwards police arrested Doukoshkan at a home in Osborne Park,also nearby,where it’s alleged jewellery was recovered.

Some of the jewellery has now been recovered by police.

Some of the jewellery has now been recovered by police.Police Media

He appeared briefly in Joondalup Magistrates Court on Monday and was remanded in custody.

Ninette and Philip Simons spoke publicly last week about their ordeal in the hope it would flush out the perpetrators.

“I said,‘She’s a cancer patient,she’s just come out of hospital,’” Philip said.

“But I could still hear the screaming and punching.”

Ninette saidshe had thought she would die.

“I just felt defenceless. I felt like an idiot,” she said.

“I handed over all of my life’s savings on a platter,only to be bashed for it. They could have just taken it. I wasn’t even screaming. I couldn’t because he was hitting me. I was submissive. It was so easy for them to take it all,why did he have to bash me?

“I felt like I should have been dead. I don’t know how I survived this horrific thing.”

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is a journalist with WAtoday,specialising in crime and courts.

Hamish Hastie is WAtoday's state political reporter and the winner of five WA Media Awards,including the 2023 Beck Prize for best political journalism.

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