Wagga Local Court: Jai Coe, 19, applies for bail from hospital over alleged taxi armed robbery
A man accused of pulling a knife on a cabbie has appeared in court via audio visual link despite being in intensive care for a foot infection.
The Wagga News
Don't miss out on the headlines from The Wagga News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Man in custody after bashing victim with claw hammer
- Man thought having loaded shotgun was ‘cool’
- Horse rider loses fight for almost $500,000 in damages
A second man charged in relation to an alleged carjacking and armed robbery of a taxi has appeared in court while he is in intensive care.
Tolland’s Jai Coe, 19, is in Wagga Base Hospital’s intensive care unit for treatment of an infectious foot where he and his solicitor appeared via video link in Wagga Local Court on Tuesday for a bail application.
Coe has not entered a plea to the charges of robbery armed with an offensive weapon and armed with a weapon during aggravated take/drive motor vehicle with a person in it.
Police allege about 9pm on Tuesday, a taxi driver picked up Coe and co-accused Robert Campbell-Betts, aged 20, before driving to Mount Austin.
During the trip, the men allegedly directed the driver to stop at a bus stop at the intersection of Heath Street and Fernleigh Road.
The two passengers allegedly produced knives and demanded cash and a mobile phone from the driver, who complied and was kicked out of the car.
The two men then allegedly stole the taxi and drove north before ditching the car on Blamey Street, Turvey Park.
In court on Tuesday, defence solicitor Bronte Winn applied for bail, saying her client needed to be treated in hospital because his foot infection had become “so severe that it required intensive care”.
Ms Winn also said her client had the special vulnerabilities of youth and Aboriginality and said he could live with his uncle under house arrest.
Ms Winn also proposed that Coe attend a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program at Calvary Hospital once his foot infection is treated.
However, she conceded that the offences were serious and that a custodial penalty is likely if convicted.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Jasmine Carr opposed bail, saying Coe can receive treatment in a correctional facility.
Sergeant Jones said there were concerns about his failure to appear; likelihood to commit a serious offence; and endangering the safety of victims, individuals or the community.
“The strength of the prosecution case and the fact he was on an ICO (intensive corrections order) for assault occasioning actual bodily harm in company, it is my respectful submission that that would cause the situation in the mind of the accused person that would lead to him likely to flee to avoid apprehension,” she said.
“We’re already on 24-hour house arrest by virtue of the government anyway, but that didn’t stop him last week from (allegedly) committing this offence.”
Magistrate Christopher Halburd denied bail, saying the risks, Coe’s criminal history and the conditions proposed by Ms Winn did not address the prosecution’s concerns.
“There’s CCTV footage, there’s identification, there are items found belonging to the defendant at the relevant place,” he said.
“The custodial penalty, if found guilty, is inevitable and one of some significant length.”
Coe’s matter is scheduled before the court again on June 19 alongside the matter of Campbell-Betts, who appeared in Wagga Local Court on April 24 and was refused bail.
Campbell-Betts, of Mount Austin, has not pleaded to robbery armed with an offensive weapon and armed with a weapon during aggravated take/drive motor vehicle with a person in it and never being licensed to drive.
Coe may be excused if legally represented next time.