Masked crim’s ‘amateurish’ robbery attempt at M’boro pharmacy

With his face covered, he walked into a chemist with the intention of holding it up. He was just missing one thing.

He described his client’s offending as “one of the most amateurish jobs that’s ever been performed”.

With a balaclava covering his face, Anthony Scott Patrick Mann walked into a Maryborough pharmacy pretending to have a weapon and ‘held up’ the staff members working behind the counter.

Mann, 33, pleaded guilty in Maryborough District Court to one count of attempted robbery.

The court heard on November 11 last year, Mann, wearing a balaclava and a hoodie and in the company of another man, walked into Luxton’s Pharmacy and demanded fentanyl while pretending to have a weapon in his pocket.

The pharmacist behind the counter pretended not to understand Mann’s demands, the court was told.

The staff at the store were initially fearful Mann was armed as he was moving his hands around in his pocket.

During the attempted robbery, an elderly woman had walked into the store, witnessing a scene that would have been “quite confronting” for her.

Police identified the car the two men left the scene in and later found Mann and his co-accused asleep in the vehicle.

Mann later made admissions that they had attempted to hold up the pharmacy to steal drugs.

Defence barrister Phillip Hardcastle said his client had been cooperative with police and told them what had happened.

He described his client’s offending as “one of the most amateurish jobs that’s ever been performed”.

Mr Hardcastle said his client came from a reasonably good background and had a 15-year-old son and family who lived in Bundaberg.

He had completed an apprenticeship working alongside his father as a painter and he would have a job upon his release, the court was told.

Judge Jennifer Rosenberg said she was concerned about Mann’s escalation in offending, from a criminal history with stealing, public nuisance and drug offences to attempted robbery.

“It was not sophisticated but brazen behaviour,” she said.

Judge Rosenberg urged Mann to be there for his son.

“Your son has no choice in where you end up,” she said.

“You have to stand up and be a role model for him and support him through those pivotal years.”

Mann was sentenced to two years in prison with 72 days spent in pre-sentence custody declared as time served.

A parole release date was set for September 13.