Laughlan Brookes: Malabar man sentenced for Nowra aggravated robbery

A late-night intruder has learned his fate after wielding a rusty machete in a south coast home, where he demanded a woman hand over her jewellery.

Laughlan Brookes, 24, was sentenced in Nowra District Court over an aggravated robbery, in which he used a machete to threaten a woman in her home. File picture: iStock

A meth addict, who robbed a woman of a number of personal items while wielding a 60cm machete on the NSW south coast, has been jailed over the “serious” incident.

Laughlan Brookes, 24, was sentenced in the Nowra District Court on Monday, after pleading guilty in May to aggravated robbery.

The Malabar man was first placed into custody at the South Coast Correctional Centre on November 9 last year, one day after he entered a woman’s Nowra home wielding a 60cm rusty machete, demanding she gave him “all (her) jewellery”.

Documents tendered to the court state the 41-year-old woman was known to Brookes.

Agreed facts state the woman asked Brookes to leave multiple times, but he hit her head with his hand and took her Samsung phone, watch and a bottle of port before leaving the premises.

Laughlan Brookes was sentenced in the Nowra District Court on Monday.

The victim attended the Nowra Police Station the same night to report the incident, before officers found Brookes the next day hiding in the ceiling of a Numbaa Way, Nowra home.

He was arrested, charged and refused bail before being placed in custody, where he has remained since.

In court on Monday, Brooke’s lawyer, Ms Web, said while her client was holding a machete, he did not use it on the victim.

She did, however, concede that the weapon would have scared the victim.

“The weapon wasn’t used in a direct act to threaten the victim, but he was holding it,” she said.

“Of course, it would have added to the fear of the victim.”

Ms Web also said her client had a hard upbringing, surrounded by drugs and violence.

However, a Crown prosecutor said Brookes had prior convictions of a similar nature and this was important to consider when sentencing.

Judge Jennifer English acknowledged Brookes’ upbringing and his drug use, noting he was addicted to methamphetamine, using more than a gram per day.

“Every offence of robbery is treated seriously by the courts,” she said.

“(The victim) was in a home, a place where she was living and a place where she should have felt safe.”

Brookes was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison, with an 18-month non-parole period.

The sentence was backdated to start on November 9 last year, when Brookes was arrested.

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