Douglas Swansborough: Man jailed after stealing at knifepoint at Traralgon, Warragul

A boyfriend threatened two employees with a knife in Gippsland in a desperate bid to stop “his girlfriend from being unfaithful”, a court has heard.

A desperate 25-year-old man held two employees at knifepoint in separate attacks in Gippsland to stop his “girlfriend from being unfaithful”, a court has heard.

Douglas Swansborough was jailed for almost three years in County Court on Monday after he pleaded guilty to charges of armed robbery over assaults last year.

The court heard Swansborough was under the influence of alcohol and drugs when he stole cash from employees at two separate businesses in Traralgon and Warragul in August and September.

During an interview Swansborough told police he stole the cash to give to his girlfriend to stop her from being unfaithful.

On August 31 Swansborough walked into Dan Murphy’s, Traralgon and threatened an employee with a knife, telling him to “hurry up” before he started counting up from one.

When Swansborough got to seven seconds he told the frightened staff member that he was “running out of time”.

The worker handed over $400 from the register.

The second robbery happened a day later when Swansborough attended Your Beauty Routine in Warragul pretending to buy lipstick for his girlfriend.

He pulled out a knife when the sales assistant opened the register then stepped behind the counter to access it.

He emptied the cash register then left the store with $60.

Police searched Swansborough’s girlfriend’s mum’s place and arrested him.

When questioned, Swansborough said “no comment” and denied he committed the crimes.

Judge Kate Hawkins said the victims were “undoubtedly terrified” and the crimes were “inherently serious”.

She said they were premeditated as he had time to “reflect” between them.

“If you continue to abuse alcohol and illicit substances, your risk to reoffend is high,” she said.

On Monday Swansborough was sentenced to 35 months in prison with a non-parole period of 22 months.

He had already served 458 days at the time of sentencing.