Jason Kristen fronts court after 2003 Godfreys Parramatta vacuum shop attempted robbery
A man who tried to rob a Parramatta vacuum shop with a replica gun so he could fund his heroin addiction has finally faced court for sentencing 17 years in a crime a judge labelled “exceptional’’.
Parramatta
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A man who attempted to rob a Parramatta Westfield vacuum shop with a replica gun in 2003 and was arrested more than a decade later through DNA evidence has been given “another chance” to prove he won’t reoffend.
Jason Kristen, 45, appeared a Parramatta District Court on Friday when an “unsophisticated” demand for money on November 10, 2003, saw him and another man terrorise a Godfreys manager with the fake firearm so he could use the cash to buy drugs.
The court heard how the planned robbery with the fake firearm was an inside job after he met a shop worker through a mutual acquaintance who said he “could make the robbery happen”.
However, the Wattle Grove window installer was not charged for the incident until 2019 when he was nabbed for multiple offences surrounding a 2017 break and enter for which he pleaded guilty.
After what the judge said was an “unexplained delay” in DNA matching, the evidence finally led to Kristen being charged with armed with intent to rob from the offence 17 years ago.
The store manager managed to disarm Kristen after a struggle and he fled with the other man.
At court this week, Kristen said he was remorseful for damaging the victim’s life.
“I’m very sorry for the implications after and the problems I caused him in his life. I had no right to do that with my actions,’’ he said.
“Since 2003 I was not anywhere near the progress I am today. I wasn’t driven. My main focus was to just score and function where as now I have goals. Every day is for myself, for my family, for the community.
“I have been trying really hard to be a better person for myself and my children.’’
The court heard how Kristen suffered significant traumatic life events and turned to cannabis as a 14 year old, and later alcohol and heroin, which he stopped using in 2007.
He gained full custody of his now teenage children when they were younger and had a third child, a daughter, who drowned in 2009.
The defence requested Kristen to receive a non-custodial sentence so he could support his children, with whom his mother helps raise, and continue undertaking counselling.
But the Crown questioned how Kristen could guarantee he would not reoffend after a lapse in 2017 when he was convicted of the house break and enter, when he was a father.
He was initially served a six-month jail sentence before being placed on a good behaviour bond.
Judge Sophia Beckett told the court she was troubled by Kristen’s 2017 offences but he had shown stability including holding down a job for 11 years before finding employment in July within two weeks after he was made redundant because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Justice Beckett told the court the community demanded punishment but the case was exceptional because it was committed in 2003.
She imposed a “lengthy remand’’ an intensive correction order on Kristen, who is on methadone and must continue drug treatment, be available for urine testing, abstain from illicit drugs and report to Liverpool police station each week as part of his continued bail.
“You’ve been given a chance to establish to the court an ability TO keep doing what you’ve been doing since 2017,’’ Justice Beckett said.
The matter will return to court on May 28.