Rowville armed robbery: David Seiuli jailed for ‘terrifying’ Stamford Inn Hotel gun heist
A Rowville dad has robbed his local pub before escaping up a busy road and along a creek. But he was unaware a police dog would soon be tracking his scent. VIDEO and MAP: Watch the “terrifying” robbery and see how the armed thug was caught.
East
Don't miss out on the headlines from East . Followed categories will be added to My News.
A “dedicated” dad who robbed a Rowville pokies venue by gunpoint leaving staff and customers traumatised was captured thanks to a hero police dog.
Former aspiring rugby player David Seiuli waited for his wife to take their daughter to school before robbing the Stamford Inn Hotel gaming room on November 13, 2017.
Seiuli left his Linnel Crt home and walked to the Stud Rd venue just before 9am.
The father of three entered the venue, pulled out a “dark-coloured” handgun and made a v-line to the cashier, a court has heard.
He shoved the gun into the back of the female attendant, Kristal-lee Thompson, who later said she felt “something digging into her back”
Seiuli, whose face was masked with a bandana, demanded the cashier fill up his plastic bag with cash.
The armed thug snared $1300 but his sights were already set on a second attendant, Judith Fenby.
Waving the gun around and pointing at the cash drawers, Seiuli demanded more cash.
The frightened attendant opened her empty drawers before Seiuli fled.
A customer who had been hiding in the gaming room “out of fear” was consoled by staff because she was “shaking”.
Police reviewed CCTV footage then mobilised the dog unit onto Seiuli’s trail.
Police dog “Ike” tracked Seiuli’s scent from the Stamford carpark, along Wellington Rd to a nearby creek and eventually to his street.
Detectives locked eyes on their suspect just after 5pm
A surveillance operation was undertaken before Seiuli was arrested at his home about 1am on November 14.
Seiuli, on bail at the time, denied any knowledge of the robbery.
He also claimed the person in the CCTV footage was not him.
Seiuli said police “should ask his wife about the robbery because she has the same clothes”. He insisted police should also probe his neighbours because they “probably had the same clothes”.
Seiuli rolled the dice at trial despite a mountain of evidence including CCTV, stills, a map of the route he took between his home and the hotel and his clothing.
Seiuli, 32, was sentenced in the County Court to a minimum four years and eight months’ prison after he was found guilty of armed robbery.
The court heard Seiuli planned his heist by attempting to conceal his identity, choosing a time when security was at its weakest and stashing the gun post-robbery.
He also avoided main roads while he walked from his house to the hotel and back again.
In her victim impact statement, Ms Thompson, a mother, said she was now scared to go to work, and suffered depression and anxiety which made home life hard.
“For over 11 years working at the Stamford Hotel I had never felt threatened or un
safe until the day (Seiuli) come in and threatened my life,” she said in her statement.
Ms Thompson also said she no longer feels safe at work and was ”constantly judging everyone who walks in”.
Ms Fenby also loved going to work but retired early because of anxiety.
She said the robbery had a “detrimental affect” on her and her family.
“I now jump at the smallest of things that never used to frighten me, I feel more
vulnerable in every unknown situation,” she said.
Judge David Brooks said Seiuli’s “objectively terrifying” robbery was “completely unacceptable behaviour”.
“This was a terrifying ideal for the attendants working that morning they continue to suffer the consequences of your deplorable offending,” he said.
MORE VIDEO: ILLEGAL HANDGUN SMUGGLING RACKET SMASHED
GLAMOUR TO THE SLAMMER: RISE AND FALL OF THE CON QUEEN
LEAFY EAST GANGSTER FILMED VIOLENT RAP BEFORE STABBINGS
Seiuli went to Canberra to pursue a professional rugby career but abandoned his dream after a serious injury in 2005.
He then turned to drugs and alcohol.
Seiuli’s wife said he was dedicated dad and the offending was “out of character”.
Seiuli, who had spent 212 days in custody at the time of sentencing, was jailed for a maximum seven years.