Townsville serial pharmacy thief has jail sentence suspended
A Townsville dad who took his six-year-old daughter on a crime spree during which he pointed a gun at police and tried to take out the power to a Gympie suburb has been freed after being sent to jail for an armed hold-up.
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A drug-addled father who once took his six-year-old daughter on a one-night crime spree during which he pointed a gun at police and tried to take out the power supply to Cooloola Cove, has successfully appealed a four year jail sentence.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was sentenced in Townsville District Court on May 12, 2021, to four years behind bars for the armed robbery of a pharmacy involving a tomahawk and prescription drugs on March 9, 2021.
In court documents obtained by The Gympie Times, the sentence was appealed in Brisbane on October 19, 2021.
According to the documents, the court heard during his sentencing that the man had entered a Townsville pharmacy early in the morning holding two bags: an empty rolled up grey sack and a green woolworths bag which concealed a tomahawk.
The man, who did not wear a disguise, placed the grey sack on the counter in front of the 23-year-old pharmacist and directed it be filled with prescription drugs from the pharmacy’s safe.
The pharmacist hesitated, which led him to repeat his demand and threaten to hurt the young woman, using words to the effect of “things would get messy” if she did not comply.
As she went to fill the bag, the man saw a 19-year-old assistant in the Pathology suite, holding her phone.
The man thought the young girl was going to call the police, and a struggle ensued as Watson dragged her towards the back of the pharmacy.
She eventually dropped her phone as the man stood between the two women while the grey sack continued to be filled, all the while keeping an eye on the pharmacy entrance.
After the grey bag was full, the man put the phone on the counter and fled the building with his loot.
The tomahawk, still concealed in the green bag, was never used.
Within a matter of hours, the man was pulled over and arrested where he told police he intended to sell the stolen prescription drugs for money.
The court heard the man had a history of similar offences, including a stint in 2016 where he incorporated his then six-year-old daughter into a mission to break into a Tin Can Bay energex site.
The court heard the man was on ice at the time and wanted to break into the site to turn power off to a nearby pharmacy he intended to rob.
While he was unsuccessful in cutting the power, he proceeded to break in to the pharmacy three times, but was caught by police during his third attempt.
He pointed a large revolver at the officers but did not fire and lowered it to the ground as police drew their weapons.
He was given a head sentence of three years for this, but only served one third and was released on parole on July 16, 2017.
For the robbery with the concealed tomahawk, he was sentenced to four years behind bars with an immediate parole eligibility date.
But the man, who was still behind bars and had been for 19 months at the time, appealed this decision and asked that he be placed on a suspended sentence for the remainder of his sentence.
The appeal was granted, and the man was given a suspended sentence for the next two and a half years until March 9, 2024.
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