Round 2 - DTAI

Question 1

Can you please state your name and age for the court?

Answer 1

My name is Danika TAILOR and I am 46 years old.

Question 2

Do you currently have an occupation?

Answer 2

I am not currently employed but I am receiving a widow’s pension from Centrelink.

Question 3

Where do you live, Ms Tailor?

Answer 3

I reside at 20 Attfield Street in Fremantle.

Question 4

You said that you receive a widow’s pension from Centrelink. What, if any, other income do you receive?

Answer 4

My pension doesn’t go very far to cover my living expenses, so I rent out two of the spare bedrooms in my old house to supplement my income.

Question 5

When did you first meet the defendant, Dimitri Rizeski?

Answer 5

I first met the defendant around October last year, at my favourite local wine bar – the ‘Sword and Board’.

Question 6

What was Mr Rizeski doing when you met him?

Answer 6

He worked as a bartender and cocktail waiter there.

Question 7

What were your first impressions of Mr RIZESKI?

Answer 7

Like pretty much all the male staff there, he was quite a good-looking and well-spoken young gentleman.

Question 8

Please tell the court what contact you had with Mr Rizeski after you met him at the bar?

Answer 8

Late last year, we had a conversation where Mr Rizeski mentioned that he needed somewhere to live as his lease was expiring where he was renting at the moment.

Question 9

How did you respond to his comment?

Answer 9

I had a spare room available at the time so I said he could rent it from me if he wanted.

Question 10

Was that the extent of the conversation?

Answer 10

I can’t remember if I mentioned that it was $210 a week at that point, but I think I did.

Question 11

What other contact did you have with Mr Rizeski after that conversation?

Answer 11

The next day Mr Rizeski came to my house to inspect the room and meet my other housemate Aleks.

Question 12

Can you please tell the court what happened at that meeting?

Answer 12

Everything went well and I remember we specifically had a discussion on the front lawn.

Question 13

What happened after Mr RIZESKI inspected the room?

Answer 13

I clearly said that the rent was $210/week to which Mr Rizeski agreed to verbally, and also with a handshake.

Question 14

Please tell the court what you usually do when you engage a new tenant?

Answer 14

Normally I would have drawn up a written contract, like I do with all my lodgers.

Question 15

Why didn’t you draw up a written contract with Mr Riveski?

Answer 15

At that time, I had a good impression of Mr Rizeski, and trusted him. Obviously, I now know he’s not a person anyone should trust.

Question 16

Do you have any proof of a contractual agreement between you and Mr RIZESKI?

Answer 16

I do have some proof of our contractual agreement from a text message I sent to Mr Rizeski on the day after he moved in, which was around a week later on 14 November 2020.

Question 17

Do you have a copy of that message?

Answer 17

I have a screen-shotted copy of the text message I sent.

Question 18

Please would you have a look a look at this document?

Please would you tell the court what that is?

Answer 18

It is a screen shot of the text message that I sent to Mr Rizeski on 14 November 2020.

Question 19

Please would you read out the message to the court?

Answer 19

(reads out content of the message)

Question 20

What was Mr RIZESKI like as a lodger?

Answer 20

Unfortunately, Mr Rizeski was not a very good lodger for my second bedroom.

Question 21

How many weeks rent did Mr RIZESKI pay?

Answer 21

He only paid rent for around 3 weeks before he stopped paying rent.

Question 22

What did you do when Mr RIZESKI stopped paying the rent?

Answer 22

I felt sorry for him though, and didn’t kick him out like I should have, and gave him a chance to catch up.

Question 23

Why did you give Mr RIZESKI a chance to catch up with the rent?

Answer 23

Since it was around Christmas time, I decided I wasn’t going to make a big deal and bother him too much.

Question 24

What changed, why did you ask Mr Riveski to leave?

Answer 24

It was when he started regularly bringing extra people to stay in his room that I decided it was time to ask him to move on.

Question 25

Why did you care?

Answer 25

I don’t mind that my lodgers have the occasional visitor, but Mr Rizeski was having a person over all the time and it was quite noisy and a disturbance to the order the house.

Question 26

About when was this happening?

Answer 26

I remember this was around the end of February.

Question 27

When did he finally move out?

Answer 27

Mr Rizeski moved out 14 March 2021.

Question 28

When Mr RIZESKI moved out, how much rent did he owe you?

Answer 28

I calculated at that point that he still owed me $3,000 outstanding for the time he lived with me. That’s taking into account the $630, which was all he had paid me in rent total.