Patrick Shortall found guilty following spree which left alleged accomplice for dead

A Broadford man has been brought down after leaving his alleged fellow crook for dead following a botched burglary of a supermarket.

Shortall was found guilty of failing to render assistance following a motor vehicle crash, theft, two charges of criminal damage and one charge of burglary.

A Broadford man has been found guilty of leaving his alleged fellow crook for dead on the side of the road following a statewide crime spree.

Patrick Shortall, 52, was found guilty in the Shepparton County Court of failing to render assistance following a motor vehicle crash, theft, two charges of criminal damage and one charge of burglary.

Shortall, 48, of Broadford and co-accused Nathan Bell stole a Hyundai i30 from a Hertz rental car shop in Gold St, Collingwood on March 22, 2020.

Hours later at about 3.04am the following day, Shortall and Mr Bell allegedly tried to rob the Wandong IGA having turned up in the Hyundai i30 sedan.

Mr Shortall and his co-accused allegedly tried to take cigarettes from the Wandong IGA.

After breaking into the store, they attempted to steal cigarettes, but instead set off the smoke bomb alarm.

The men then fled without any items and left in the Hyundai.

The events were captured on CCTV, with Shortall wearing a black Nike baseball cap, black balaclava, black jumper, red gloves, blue jeans, and tan work boots.

Mr Bell was allegedly wearing a black baseball cap, black balaclava, light-coloured jumper, dark pants, and one yellow and red glove.

Police attended the IGA at 3.24am, seizing a baseball cap which had been worn by Mr Bell.

Nearly two hours later, off-duty police officer Parrish Walton found the heavily damaged Hyundai crashed several metres off the road on the Broadford-Wandong Rd in Wandong, about 7.5km from the IGA, and with no registration plates.

Mr Walton said he did not see anyone in the driver’s seat.

Mr Bell, in the passenger seat, was found trapped inside the car by police with serious injuries and was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

Patrick Shortall was found wandering around Sunday Creek Rd, Broadford, on March 23, 2020.

Mr Walton said that Mr Bell was sitting still “in a lot of pain” and he was unable to remember much about the incident, but said to police that he believed the collision occurred a few hours earlier.

Police inspected the car and found its number plates in the boot.

In a police interview played in court at an earlier hearing, Shortall, who was found walking in a remote area near Broadford roughly seven hours after the crash, told police “he must have been walking his dog, or something”.

When asked by police what he was doing, he responded: “I would’ve been sound asleep. I’m barely up past 10 at night.”

Shortall also told police he had an argument with his girlfriend, who had kicked him out of a car on the Hume Freeway.

Witness Cassie O’Brien. of Victoria Police, who spoke to Shortall on March 23, 2020, said that he identified himself and gave his address and date of birth.

At the time, police were not aware of Shortall’s involvement in the incident, and he was not arrested.

He was later arrested on August 25, 2020.

Defence lawyer Ian Polak questioned Ms O’Brien as to whether Shortall was injured, to which she said “no”.

Street view of Gold St, Collingwood, where Shortall stole the Hyundai i30 that was later found crashed on the Broadford-Wandong Rd. Picture: Google Earth

During closing arguments at the trial on Tuesday, Mr McKenry said the “most important piece of evidence” was a sample of what appeared to be blood on the deployed steering wheel airbag of the crashed car.

He said there was “extremely strong support” based on DNA testing that the sample matched Shortall.

“That was the item that he left behind that signs his name,” Mr McKenry said, citing a 100 billion to one probability that the analysis matched another individual.

Mr McKenry urged the jury to piece together the “puzzle” of circumstantial evidence.

Mr Polak asked the jury not to “jump to conclusions”, saying there was insufficient evidence of Shortall’s involvement in the offences.

“It’s not a simple case at all,” he said, arguing the prosecution had not proved the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.

Shortall’s bail was denied by Judge Michael Cahill and he was remanded in custody to appear in the Melbourne County Court on May 6.