Rebecca Hutchins and Robert Abdulla jailed for robbing Belair service station

A once promising SANFL footballer and his drug house lover have been jailed for their violent service station robbery, where the terrified attendant was punched in the face.

A mother who punched a service station attendant in the face during a “terribly frightening” robbery alongside her footballer lover will have her first taste of jail.

Rebecca Rose Hutchins, 35, and Robert John Abdulla’s lives were spiralling out of control when they committed the violent drug-fuelled robbery.

The Adelaide District Court on Monday heard Hutchins and Abdulla, 32, entered the Belair On The Run service station in the early hours of August 7.

Abdulla, who brandished a tyre iron at the victim, demanded she open the till.

The court heard Hutchins then jumped over the counter and started filling a rubbish bin with cigarettes.

When the victim tried to retrieve her stolen phone to keep photos of her children, she was punched in the face by Hutchins.

CCTV footage shows Rebecca Hutchins attacking the attendant after she tried to stop her phone from being stolen. Photo: Courts SA

Rebecca Hutchins empties the cash register, while Robert Abdulla brandishes a tyre iron at the attendant. Photo: Courts SA

Abdulla and Hutchins fled with cash and cigarettes, valued at $5684.

Hutchins, of South Hummocks and Abdulla, of Holden Hill, pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery.

Rebecca Hutchins. Picture: Facebook

Robert Abdulla. Picture: Facebook

The court heard the death of Hutchins’ father led to her spiralling out of control and her methamphetamine use increasing.

Hutchins moved into a house with other drug users and met Abdulla.

Timothy McGrath, for Hutchins, previously told the court they had a six-month “intimate but destructive” relationship.

“You say that your arrest was the best thing that could have happened to you because it snapped you out of your drug addiction,” Judge Timothy Heffernan said during sentencing.

The court heard that Hutchins, an abattoir worker and mother-of-two, had not used drugs since her arrest.

The court heard Abdulla was a promising footballer until he sustained an injury.

“You nonetheless spent some time playing with two SANFL clubs,” Judge Heffernan said.

The court heard the father-of-one became addicted to drugs in 2018 after his relationship broke down and his father passed away.

Judge Heffernan said the offending would have been “extremely frightening” for the victim but accepted the duo were remorseful.

“People who work behind the counter in service stations are extremely vulnerable to this sort of conduct, particularly in the early hours of the morning,” he said.

“Your victim, who appears to have been working alone, was faced with the combined threat and force of both of you.”

Judge Heffernan sentenced Hutchins to four years and one month jail, with a non-parole period of one year and 10 months.

Abdulla was sentenced to five years and 10 months jail, with a non-parole period of three years and two months.

His sentence was backdated to August 13, 2021.