Joshua Cates receives community work for crime spree that ended in Perth grandfather Emiliano Lombardi’s death

A 25-year-old father involved in a Cannington crime rampage that led to the death of 84-year-old Perth grandfather Emiliano Lombardi has been ordered to serve community work. Joshua Cates' involvement in the August crime spree leading up to the alleged murder of Mr Lombardi was limited to graffiti on benches and walls. Cates was today sentenced to a supervision order and 40 hours of community work by a Perth Magistrate for his role in the rampage — four charges of criminal damage. Drugs and weapons found by police when they searched his home will also cost him $700 in fines. Cates’ accomplice, Quade Karsum Jones, will front court via video link from Casuarina Prison next week to face his murder charge. Mr Jones is yet to enter a plea to the charge. Images of Mr Lombardi covered in blood inside his East Cannington home shocked Perth. The photos, which were taken by police at the scene showed a deep hole in Mr Lombardi’s cheek, his right eye swollen shut and large gashes across his forehead, nose and scalp. In September, a Perth court was told Mr Jones allegedly attacked a man in his 20s and a woman in her 40s before coming across the grandfather-of-seven. Mr Lombardi died after spending two weeks in hospital following the brutal attack. He was remembered as “hell of a nice guy” by his neighbours and was loved by Perth’s Italian community. Every Monday, he would roll up his sleeves in the kitchen of his modest East Cannington home and carefully pack a bag full to the brim of his “special Italian sandwiches” to hand deliver to his children and their colleagues at work. If he was not in West Perth at the WA Italian Club, walking his dogs or having a coffee on the front porch with neighbours, you would find the 84-year-old in the backyard tending to his veggie garden.