Stuart Wells, Kristy Burke jailed for armed robbery of Mittagong RSL

Shock footage reveals the moment an armed robber responsible for the botched stick-up at an RSL, involving a shotgun and a bowl of pasta, dropped cash and took off in a rented ute in the getaway driver’s own name.

The term ‘daylight robbery’ was given new meaning at the Mittagong RSL when terrified patrons watched as a masked man entered the building with a sawn-off shotgun and socks over his hands.

Stuart John Wells, 27, was jailed on Friday for his botched armed robbery of the local club in the middle of the lunch rush with Kristy Barbara Burke, 40, as the getaway driver in a Kennards Hire ute rented in her own name.

On August 22 of last year, Burke drove Wells to a house in Welby where he pointed a gun at a friend and threatened to shoot him during the short visit. After Wells got back in the car, he directed Burke to drive him to Rainbow Rd, at the back of the Mittagong RSL.

Campbelltown District Court heard Wells got out of the car with a balaclava over his head and a rifle in hand, telling Burke: “You better wait or I’ll hurt ya.”

Stuart John Wells and Kristy Barbara Burke were jailed in Campbelltown District Court after robbing the Mittagong RSL. Picture: Facebook

The court heard he was wearing socks on his hands when he jumped the fence and entered the RSL from the terrace. Video of the stick-up shows Wells running straight to the cashier in the pokies room and brandishing the gun, demanding money from the long-time RSL employee.

“Give me the f***ing money,” he repeatedly demanded.

The victim heard the gun make a popping sound six to eight times. A single unfired ammunition round was found the next day underneath the counter and Judge Julia Baly noted Wells had the means to load his gun.

The cashier placed the money on the counter but the CCTV shows Wells’s sock-covered hands made it hard for him to get a grip on the bundles of cash. He had not brought a bag.

Judge Baly said the surveillance footage captured the fear of the cashier as numerous patrons were fleeing from the robbery in progress.

“What stands out is just how terrified (the victim) looks at the time of the robbery and immediately after,” she said.

The footage shows the cashier duck down to push the two panic buttons and then appear to collapse in fear. Meanwhile, Wells ran from the pokies room, leaving a breadcrumb trail of dropped cash in his wake.

Surveillance footage shows Stuart John Wells pointing his shortened rifle at the cashier and demanding money.

A bystander attempted to stop the robbery by throwing a bowl of pasta at Wells, but narrowly missed his head. Wells dropped a hefty sum of cash and struggled to pick it up with his socked hands, eventually abandoning some of it to run out the front door.

Despite his slippery grip, the court heard Wells got away with $19,040. Judge Julia Baly said Wells took the vast majority of the cash, giving only $100 to Burke for her role as a getaway driver.

Police were able to identify Wells quite quickly as a local after glimpsing his recognisable facial tattoo through his ill-fitting balaclava.

On August 29 last year, facts show Wells was with a friend in Moss Vale when they got into an argument and the friend tried to walk away. When his back was turned, the court heard Wells hit him in the ribs with the butt of the shotgun and then swung the gun “like a baseball bat”.

The victim was required to spend a number of days at Campbelltown Hospital for surgery to treat his serious injuries. Judge Baly condemned the “high degree of violence” Wells employed for “no reason”.

Police arrested Wells later that day when they spotted him in Moss Vale carrying the same duffel bag he’d used in the robbery. He hadn’t bothered to empty the bag, so police found the shortened .22 magnum calibre rifle seen in the surveillance footage, a bag of ammunition, and more than $1800 in cash (mostly in $50 notes). The remaining balance from the stolen $19,000 has not been recovered.

Surveillance footage shows Stuart John Wells dropping the cash due to his sock-covered hands.

After some attempts to recover the dropped money, Stuart John Wells decided to abandon the effort and make a run for it.

Wells pleaded guilty to robbery while armed with a dangerous weapon, being armed with intent to commit intimidation, acquiring a prohibited firearm when he was subject to a prohibition order, possessing a shortened firearm without authority, and causing reckless grievous bodily harm to a friend.

The court heard both offenders had been on conditional liberty at the time of the armed robbery. Wells had been released only six months prior to the robbery, which the court heard he regarded as “a personal best” for remaining in the community.

The court heard Wells has an extensive criminal history.

“He has spent much of his life in jail,” Judge Baly told the court.

“There is no doubt in my mind that childhood deprivation set him on a path to using substances and incarceration.”

The Judge said Wells was “undoubtedly the principle offender” who was “fully responsible for the armed robbery.”

She said he had planned the offence and armed himself with a stolen shortened rifle, despite being prohibited from owning or buying firearms since 2018. The court heard the offences were aggravated by the presence of so many people enjoying lunchtime at the RSL.

Judge Baly accepted Burke had been coerced into “the criminal enterprise at the 11th hour.” She cited a phone call intercepted by police in which Burke said she’d been blindsided by the robbery.

The Mittagong RSL after the robbery.

“I was just in the case. It was spur of the moment,” Burke said.

Although Burke has a history of drug-related convictions, Judge Baly determined the robbery was “out of character”.

Acknowledging responsibility for her role, Burke pleaded guilty to armed robbery with a dangerous weapon for her part as the getaway driver of the rental ute.

Burke was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of two years and five months, with a non-parole period of one year and five months. She will complete her term on April 28, 2023.

For his offences, Wells was sentenced to seven years and three months in jail with a non-parole period of four years and eight months.

“This sentence must be a strong one. I hope it doesn’t crush you,” she told the offender.

He will complete his sentence on January 23, 2028.