Gympie robber pulled gun on victims and stole their cars

He told a victim the shootings which had been occurring around town had been his doing.

GUILTY: Travis Terrence Carsburg. Picture: File Photo

AN ARMED robber pulled a rifle on his victims and threatened to bash and shoot them before stealing their cars during a nine day crime spree last year.

Travis Terrence Carsburg, 29, was at a friend's place on April 26, when his downward spiral began to peak, the Gympie District Court heard this week.

His first victim announced he was leaving the house when Carsburg followed him to his car and pulled a small calibre rifle on him, before telling him the shootings which had been occurring around town had been his doing.

Carsburg told the victim to go back to the house and sit on the bed, pointing the rifle at him. The court heard he and his then-girlfriend asked the victim for money once back in the house.

When he said he had none, Carsburg stole the ring he was wearing and threatened him, saying he knew where he lived. The victim heard his car leave a short time later.

The car was later found in bushland with extensive damage, with Carsburg's identification and stolen number plates inside.

The court heard Carsburg's offending continued the day before his May 6 arrest, when he asked another victim if he could borrow his car.

The man refused, but Carsburg became aggressive and threatened to bash him, saying he would be taking the car anyway.

He again pulled a gun on his victim and said he would shoot and bash him if he didn't give up the car, also threatening him against going to the police and eventually stealing the car, which had been hired out to the victim.

Carsburg was filmed on CCTV at a Coles service station later that night, before the victim called police the next morning.

The second vehicle was found crashed on Kin Kin Rd near Carsburg's mother's house, the court heard.

He was arrested that day and found with cigarettes the same brand as those in the car, as well as stolen hand tools.

The court heard Carsburg entered another property near his mother's house and stole yet another car, driving it into a shed across the road, before being arrested at his mother's house.

Carsburg pleaded guilty to two counts of armed robbery, two counts of entering a premises and committing an indictable offence, three counts of unlawfully using a motor vehicle and causing damage and one count of stealing on top of 17 summary offences, some of which were committed over the nine days.

Judge Suzanne Sheridan noted his offending, committed in a drug-affected state, "must have terrified” his victims, but also accepted he was remorseful.

He was sentenced to seven years' jail and will become eligible for parole on November 21, 2020, with 361 days served in pre-sentence custody.