Man in court for attempted robbery of 7-Eleven store

A man who unsuccessfully asked police to lock him up tried to rob a 7-Eleven forcing their hand, a court has heard.

Bradley Feder attempted to rob a store after cops at Heidelberg police station denied his request to be locked up.

A man who demanded to be locked up only to be told the cells were full attempted to rob a convenience store with a pair of scissors so the cops could lock him up.

Bradley Feder’s actions led to his arrest and he spent 414 days in pre-sentence detention largely due to the Covid pandemic.

He won’t serve the 13 months imprisonment imposed on him by the County Court on Thursday on charges of attempted armed robbery and assault on an emergency worker because of time already served.

He pleaded guilty to the charges.

Judge Kellie Blair said Feder went to the Heidelberg police station on May 19, 2022 and told officers he had committed crimes in 1984 and 1994 so he could be locked up.

Police told him the cells were full. They also told him they couldn’t find any evidence of the alleged crimes.

Feder then went into a 7-Eleven store near the police station armed with a pair of scissors and asked the shop attendant to give him money.

Bradley Feder was sprayed with pepperspray and arrested for attempting to rob the 7-Eleven at Heidelberg.

The shop attendant refused, pushed an alarm and called 000. Feder then went outside and a short time later, came back in and again asked for money.

“The shop attendant described you as being really calm and not being aggressive. You went back outside the store,” Judge Blair said.

Police arrived and told Feder to get on the ground but he refused.

He walked towards the cops with the scissors in his hand and was sprayed with capsicum spray and arrested.

Feder was taken into custody after doctors determined he was unfit to be interviewed and released on deferral on July 7, 2023.

Judge Blair said while the offences Feder committed were serious, it was clear he was unwell at the time and had been for quite a long time.

“You were not aggressive and the way I see it, it was more like a cry for help on your part as opposed to a real attempt at armed robbery,” she said.

His lawyer Amit Malik informed the court things were rather “stable” for Feder at present as he was receiving treatment and was visited by a support worker three times a week.

Judge Blair said Feder had been using Clozapine but since that drug has side effects and required his blood to be tested regularly, he decided to stop taking it in about 2021.

She said Feder had pleaded guilty really early, served a lot of time in custody on remand during the Covid pandemic which was difficult, he hasn’t been charged with any other offences, and has been in and out of hospital.