Elyas Dargin will be jailed for armed robbery of newsagency after Ambarvale siege last year

A young man involved in a siege on Sydney’s streets last year will be jailed for an armed robbery of a local newsagency after he fled empty handed.

A young man involved in a siege on Sydney’s streets last year will be jailed for an armed robbery of a local newsagency, which he fled without any of the stolen goods.

Elyas Dargin, 22, appeared via audiovisual link in Campbelltown District Court on Friday after pleading guilty to robbery while armed with a dangerous weapon, drive conveyance taken without the consent of the owner, drive while disqualified, goods in personal custody suspected stolen and acquiring a pistol while subject to a firearms prohibition order.

A video tendered to the court showed Dargin entering the newsagency on the afternoon of August 16, 2020. The video showed he was wearing an orange high-visibility jacket and a motorcycle helmet, which he kept on with the visor down for the whole robbery.

Elyas Dargin admitted to robbing a newsagency while brandishing a gun, which he said he never intended to use.

In the video, Dargin appeared to be asking for cigarettes before he rummaged through the contents of a large black and red sports bag on his shoulder and pulled out a gun. He brandished the gun at the shopkeeper and pointed to the cupboard of cigarettes until the shopkeeper began to hurriedly pass him the packets, which Dargin stuffed in his bag.

The surveillance footage shows the shopkeeper then opened the till, at which point Dargin appeared to become impatient and grabbed the till insert from his hands and attempted to shove the whole structure into his bag.

When that failed, the footage reveals he dropped the insert on the ground and walked around behind the counter to root around for more goods, opening cupboards and drawers quickly. The video shows he then returned to the customer side of the counter and appeared to demand the shopkeeper continue to fill the sports bag with cigarette packets.

When the shopkeeper gestured to the cupboard to show it was bare, the footage shows Dargin running from the shop and the visibly distressed shopkeeper attempting to follow.

The court heard Dargin dropped the money on the floor and dropped the bag with the cigarettes right outside the newsagency.

Dargin’s lawyer Kellie Stares said the lack of actual violence reinforced her client’s claims that he never intended to hurt anyone.

Elyas Dargin said he “wasn’t thinking” and was motivated by his addiction to drugs and cigarettes to rob the store.

“There was no violence but there was a real threat thereof,” she said.

“After he fumbles around for a while, he uses the gun almost as an accessory to point at cigarettes”.

The court heard he got out of jail on August 31 last year after being sentenced for a police pursuit in a stolen car which led to a siege situation. Ms Stares said Dargin had presented himself to police the next day for the offences currently before the court.

Dargin, who is in custody in Bathurst, told the court he was very sorry for the robbery and for scaring the shopkeeper.

“If I could take it back, I would take it back,” he said.

“I wasn’t wanting anyone to get hurt. All I was thinking about was getting cigarettes and getting money for drugs.”

Despite the statements, Crown prosecutor James Moore said Dargin showed no insight into his offending and that the offences were “rendered more serious” by his extensive criminal history.

However, Ms Stares argued Dargin’s behaviour was a result of his deprived childhood, which featured physical violence, sexual abuse, parental incarceration and the death of two brothers.

Police outside the house in Ambarvale were Elyas Dargin was arrested for the police pursuit and siege on August 18, 2020.

The stolen car Elyas Dargin was driving when he led police on a chase last year.

“All of the sad circumstances we see here, it’s highly unlikely – in my submission – that someone could come out of this unscathed,” Ms Stares said.

“His PTSD is the reason why he’s turned to drugs, to escape reality.”

Judge Andrew Colefax concurred and told the court the offender’s difficult upbringing afforded him some leniency.

“We can’t be too harsh on a 22-year-old man with this background with very little help,” he said.

“He’s been dealt a bad hand.”

There was some confusion in court about the chronology of Dargin’s criminal history, which Judge Colefax referred to as a “dog’s breakfast”. He told the court he would need time to consider the “levels of complexity” of the charges.

The court heard a custodial sentence is inevitable, and both the prosecution and the defence agreed it would be appropriate to backdate the sentence Dargin’s incarceration on remand in September 2020.

Dargin will be sentenced at Campbelltown District Court on December 17.