Jason Comer trial: Closing arguments heard, jury sent out to deliberate

A man accused of holding up a Geelong West bank with a sawn-off shotgun will face a nervous wait over the weekend, as the jury in his trial weren’t able to reach a verdict on Friday.

Police at the Bendigo Bank Geelong West branch following the armed robbery on Friday afternoon. Picture: Alan Barber

A man accused of holding up a Geelong West bank with a sawn-off shotgun will face a nervous wait over the weekend, as a jury weren’t able to reach a verdict on Friday.

Jason Wayne Comer, 50, is on trial in the County Court in Geelong, fighting an armed robbery charge over the April 30, 2021 heist.

On Friday, the Crown and the defence gave their closing remarks and the jury was sent out to deliberate on their verdict.

The central question in the case was identity – there was no dispute a robbery had taken place, nor concerning Mr Comer’s movements following the crime.

The only thing in question was whether or not it was Mr Comer in the bank on April 30.

Prosecutor Andrew McKenry told the jury that while no single piece of evidence conclusively proved Mr Comer was the man in the bank, but taken as a whole it was “very clear he was guilty of that crime”.

Mr McKenry said there were several features of Mr Comer’s behaviour following the burglary that implicated him in the crime, and showed he was trying to prevent himself being linked to the heist.

Among the evidence Mr McKenry cited were mobile phone records that traced Mr Comer from his home in Corio to central Geelong near the robbery – but there was a gap at the time of the robbery, when his phone wasn’t activated.

On May 2, Mr McKenry said, the phone number on that SIM card was never used again, however the court heard Mr Comer put a new SIM card, from a phone registered to his infant daughter, into his phone that same day.

Mr Comer travelled first to NSW, and then later to Queensland, following the robbery, where he sold a black ute allegedly used in the robbery to a friend.

He then booked a flight home under his friend’s name, the court was told.

Defence counsel Nick Goodenough told the jury that there simple wasn’t enough conclusive proof, saying: “There is no evidence you can rely on”.

“This is not a court of possible, this is not a court of probable, it is a court of justice,” he said.

Mr Goodenough said the prosecution had failed to produce any evidence of a robber getting out of a car, “whatever car that might have been”, nor getting back into the car afterwards.

He noted the case involved no DNA, no fingerprints and that the gun and money were never recovered.

The lawyer told the jury that Mr Comer’s actions after the robbery, which the prosecution argued were suspicious, were all “explicable”.

He brought up differences in descriptions given by witnesses in the bank, how they lacked any mention of tattoos, and told the jury they must find his client not guilty.

Mr Goodenough also said the fact Mr Comer flew back from Queensland under a different name could be reasoned as his “incompetence”.

“It demonstrates that Mr Comer, and I say this with respect, doesn’t have a clue,” Mr Goodenough said.

“He is a man of a lot of difficulties (with technology) … and you can see the difficulties he has.”

The jury will continue their deliberations on Monday.

Originally published as Jason Comer trial: Closing arguments heard, jury sent out to deliberate