Guildford bottle shop robbery: Jimmy Tongamoa refused bail

A man accused of attempting to rob a Guildford bottle shop with a hammer has been denied bail in front of almost 30 of his supporters at Fairfield Court.

Jimmy Tongamoa of Guildford West. Picture: Facebook

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A man accused of attempting to rob a Guildford bottle shop with a hammer has been denied bail in front of almost 30 of his supporters at Fairfield Court.

As Jimmy Tongamoa’s family and friends packed the courtroom yesterday, Magistrate Theo Tsavdaridis warned children should not be in the court because he going to have to use swear words if he read out the court papers “which you might not want your children to hear”.

Mr Tongamoa, 20, of Guildford West, and two other balaclava-clad, hammer-wielding men stormed into Bottlemart at Guildford West on Friday, May 3, about 7pm.

At Fairfield Court yesterday, Mr Tongamoa pleaded guilty to the incident in which two men allegedly pushed a 28-year-old shop attendant towards the cash register and the third man stood by the door of the Fowler Rd shop.

But when the second worker, store manager Kelvin Patten, left the cool room, he threw a box of apple cider bottles, causing a laceration to the accused’s head.

The court heard the defendant and co-accused, who have not yet been charged, allegedly punched the store manager and caused a 2cm laceration to his forehead.

The trio then left empty-handed.

Fairfield Court.

On Wednesday, Mr Tongamoa was arrested at the Wingate Place home he shares his parents and brother.

He was charged with robbery while armed with an offensive weapon and assault occasioning actual bodily harm in company.

Mr Tsavdaridis said DNA evidence taken from the hammer, as well as his hand tattoos, matched Mr Tongamoa’s profile, and during his arrest he made full admissions to the bottle shop incident.

Mr Tongamoa’s solicitor Olivia Tolley read a bail application that included the need to support his two-year old-daughter and partner as well as continue working in construction for a Homebush-based company.

She also said his sister would struggle to pay the $500 security requested and he would report to Merrylands police station daily.

The magistrate said: “He’s 20 years old, he has strong community support and strong community ties”.

However, Mr Tsavdaridis said the defendant had outstanding warrants including incidents in Queensland, and failed to appear in court for other charges.

“The use of the hammer as part of the robbery is another factor which concerns me greatly,’’ Mr Tsavdaridis said.

“In the circumstances, bail must be refused.’’

As Mr Tongamoa left the court he blew a kiss to his supporters.

He is due to front Fairfield Court via video on September 12.