Restaurant armed robber imprisoned after robbing a Hervey Bay Indian restaurant

Repeat offender jailed after robbing a local restaurant.

Blake Surch was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison for armed robbery in Hervey Bay.

A man, who robbed a Hervey Bay Indian restaurant at knifepoint, has been jailed for four and half years.

Blake Nicholas Surch, 26, pleaded guilty in Hervey Bay District Court to one count of entering premises with intent to commit an indictable offence and one count of armed robbery.

Crown Prosecutor Clayton Wallis said Surch had an eight-page criminal history of drug offences, robbery and other violent offending.

Mr Wallis said the armed robbery happened on September 13, 2020, where Surch opportunistically targeted the restaurant.

"Wearing a hooded jumper, (he) covered his face and entered a local takeaway Indian restaurant with a 10cm blade. He saw the owner of the premises counting the till money … pointed the knife towards her chest and demanded the money," he said.

"She handed the money over and he absconded, being chased by the complainants husband … Surch dropped the knife which was seized by police.

"Police executed a search warrant to following day and found the defendant's phone, where he was gloating and made admissions to committing armed robbery."

The court heard Surch stole between $150 and $200 from the business.

Defence Lawyer Phillip Hardcastle said it was an opportunistic offence, and Surch did not physically harm the victim despite threatening her with a knife.

Mr Hardcastle said Surch had been introduced to alcohol and drugs when he was 15 and had been imprisoned at 17 for previous offences.

"He admitted to committing the robbery on his apprehension, so that is a very clear indication of an early plea of guilty," Mr Hardcastle said.

Surch said in court that he committed the robbery to go back to jail for treatment for ongoing drug abuse.

Judge Glen Cash QC said Surch recognised he had a drug problem but went about fixing his issue in completely the wrong way.

He said a serious, significant sentence had to be imposed for the crime.

For armed robbery, Judge Cash sentenced Surch to 4.5 years imprisonment with a fixed parole date of March 13 2022 and declared 191 days in custody as time served.

Surch was convicted but not further punished for the entering premises charge.

Originally published as Restaurant armed robber imprisoned after robbing a Hervey Bay Indian restaurant