PAULO Kele is free to walk the streets despite being accused of one of Victoria’s most frightening home invasions.

The 21-year-old New Zealand citizen, who moved to Victoria five months ago, is facing charges in relation to an incident at Albion in February.

He has been charged with home invasion, aggravated burglary and theft of a motor vehicle after a home full of Indian students was terrorised after dark on February 14.

Mr Kele is accused of taking part in the violent home invasion where Indian national Prabhath Ponnamanenim woke to three men standing over him and one man holding a knife to his throat. His housemates slept through the ordeal in upstairs bedrooms.

According to allegations contained in Court documents the men entered the unit on Anderson Road about 11.30pm through an unlocked back door.

Once inside, they found Mr Ponnamanenim asleep on a downstairs couch. One offender seated himself on the arm rest, another positioned himself behind the victim and a third rummaged through the home for things to steal.

The men demanded Mr Ponnamanenim unlock his mobile phone and reset all settings before getting away with a number of items including an iPhone, an iPad, a wallet and a vehicle parked in the driveway.

In attempting to flee the scene, one of the accused drove the vehicle through the property’s brick fence and crashed it a short distance down the road. Police arrested Mr Kele nearby after a brief struggle.

Mr Kele appeared at the Victorian Supreme Court this week where he was granted bail under strict conditions including a curfew and abstaining from alcohol.

Justice John Champion said “further detention is not justified”, noting that the accused is young and has a “limited criminal history”.

Documents tendered in Mr Kele’s bail application show the young father-of-one had been drinking alone on the day of the home invasion “behind Sunshine library” when he met and “struck up a friendship” with “some unknown people who offered him a place to stay when he shared some alcohol with them”.

He claims that he “got into their vehicle and the next thing he remembers is waking up when the car crashed”.

In court, Mr Kele was asked if he understood the opportunity he had been given after being granted bail. He nodded and muttered something under his breath.

Judge Champion said “force” had been used during the home invasion “against apparently random victims” but acknowledged there was a “reasonable chance you’ll be acquitted” given evidence at hand.

Mr Ponnamanenim and five friends had been living in the same unit at the time of the violent break-in. He said he would be looking for a new place to live and that he was “shaken up”.

He showed reporters the spot on his neck where the knife had been held and told Seven News he had been working in Australia away from his family with the aim of raising enough money to bring his wife and children here.

Mr Kele will appear before the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on May 4.

Email: rohan.smith1@news.com.au | Twitter: @ro_smith