Alleged Rundle Mall Foot Locker axe robber abuses prosecutor

The man was facing a bail hearing which heard new details of the alleged raid on a Rundle Mall clothing store on Wednesday.

The alleged Rundle Mall Foot Locker robber threatened to “f***ing smash” staff with an axe and “burn this place down” if they stopped him stealing a T-shirt, a court has heard.

The Adelaide Magistrates Court has also heard that, upon his arrest, Trevor John Sansbury admitted shoplifting the item – but told police he drew a hatchet in “self-defence” because staff threatened to “put their hands” on him.

Mr Sansbury faced the court by video link on Friday, but the feed had to be muted when he began abusing the police prosecutor handling the case.

Upon hearing she opposed his release on bail, Mr Sansbury yelled: “Just throw away the key, you f***ing rat.”

The prosecutor said the outburst typified Mr Sansbury’s alleged conduct inside the store.

Police at the Rundle Mall Foot Locker store after thieves allegedly threatened staff with a hatchet. Picture: Kelly Barnes

Police outside the Rundle Mall Foot Locker on Wednesday. Picture: Charlie Dadds

“He entered the store, selected a T-shirt and started walking toward the entrance … a staff member suspected he was going to leave without paying and alerted a colleague,” she said.

“That staff member approached Mr Sansbury and said ‘do you want to get that shirt?’ and he replied ‘I will f***ing smash you, you motherf***er.

“He pulled a small hatchet from his bag and said ‘I’ll burn this place down’ while holding it at shoulder height.”

The prosecutor said Mr Sansbury was arrested several hours later, wearing the T-shirt he had allegedly stolen.

She said Mr Sansbury admitted stealing not only the shirt, but also a quantity of alcohol from Dan Murphy’s at Norwood on March 11.

“He also admitted bringing the hatchet but said he did so because a staff member had said something about putting his hands on him so he used it to protect himself,” she said.

She opposed Mr Sansbury’s release on bail, citing the need to protect the community.

Counsel for Mr Sansbury said their client was a traditional Aboriginal man with no formal place of residence but strong family supports, and possible mental health issues.

She argued home detention bail at his uncle’s Salisbury North address would serve to mitigate any risk to the public.

Magistrate Oliver Koehn ordered a home detention bail report, as well as a report on Mr Sansbury’s mental health, and remanded him in custody until next week.

On Wednesday, police were called to Rundle Mall about 9.30am after reports that a suspect had stolen a shirt from the store and walked out.

Staff said when they confronted the suspect they saw that he was holding what they believed to be a small axe or hatchet in his hand.

No one was injured, police said.

The man proceeded to walk off with another man without further incident.

Police attempted to search the area but were unable to find the man.

Close to half-a-dozen officers were at the building conducting an investigation, which included looking through the store’s CCTV.