Leighton Thomas Charles Hayes-Hinton jailed for Rockhampton Foodworks armed robbery

Fresh out of jail, an armed robber tried to conceal his face as he held up a Central Queensland supermarket. But there was a big problem with his disguise.

Leighton Thomas Charles Hayes-Hinton, 22, entered the George Street Foodworks at 3.47pm on February 4, 2023, wearing a cap, shirt and shorts but concealing his face with his shirt, Rockhampton District Court heard on February 29, 2024.

Five days after being released from jail, a parolee carried out an armed robbery where he tried to conceal his face with a shirt, simultaneously exposing his distinctive tattoos.

Leighton Thomas Charles Hayes-Hinton, 22, entered the George Street Foodworks at 3.47pm on February 4, 2023, wearing a cap, shirt and shorts but covering his face, Rockhampton District Court heard on February 29, 2024.

Judge Michael Burnett said Hayes-Hinton, identified by his “distinctive tattoos” on CCTV, was armed with a pocketknife and threatened a 17-year-old employee.

“Give me the f —ing money,” Hayes-Hinton said to the teen.

Crown prosecutor Caleb Theunissen said the teen first thought Hayes-Hinton was joking, but soon realised he wasn’t and became “petrified and started visibly shaking”.

He said the teen’s supervisor handed the defendant $385 cash and Hayes-Hinton left.

Mr Theunissen said afterwards, Hayes-Hinton made his then girlfriend walk with him to a park.

He said she overheard him talking on the phone, telling someone he just robbed a Foodworks and “got about $400”.

Mr Theunissen said the young woman, 20, confronted Hayes-Hinton about 6pm about the robbery and told him to hand himself into police or she would tell police it was him.

He said Hayes-Hinton threatened her with a small knife, holding it to her throat, held her down as she sat on a couch and said: “if you go to the cops or tell anyone what I have done, I will enjoy myself”.

Mr Theunissen said the defendant only stopped when he heard the back door open.

Seven days later, when police attended the victim’s home, she handed police the clothing Hayes-Hinton was wearing during the robbery.

The defendant was then located in Berserker, arrested and remanded in custody.

Defence barrister Jordan Ahlstrand said Hayes-Hinton was unemployed at the time and not complying with his attention deficit hyperactivity disorder medications.

He said his client started consuming marijuana when he was 12 and had moved on to painkillers codeine and oxycontin and was impacted by drugs at the time of the offences.

Judge Burnett said Hayes-Hinton’s criminal record included spitting at security guards and a nurse at a hospital; grabbing a person by the throat after being asked to either stop his behaviour or leave the premises; and picking up a shovel and chasing a person.

He noted Hayes-Hinton’s offending was getting worse and said he’d been sentenced to nine-months prison on January 30, 2023, with 72 days presentence custody declared as time served and released on parole that day.

He said the court report showed Hayes-Hinton failed to report while on parole and failed to engage with parole authorities.

Hayes-Hinton pleaded guilty to one count of armed robbery and one of common assault.

He was sentenced to three years and three months’ prison with 195 days presentence custody declared as time already served, and parole eligibility set for March 17.