Tommy Metaxiotis: Westmeadows man who held up Australia Post van sentenced to six months jail

A Westmeadows man who held a knife to a postie’s stomach during a terrifying armed robbery later caught asleep in a stolen luxury car.

Westmeadows man Tommy Metaxiotis, 38, was sentenced to six months for stealing an Australia Post van at knifepoint in Ascot Vale in 2019. ​

A Westmeadows man has avoided jail for a 2019 armed robbery where he stole an Australia Post van in Ascot Vale.

Tommy Metaxiotis, 38, was sentenced to six months’ jail for the offence, but because of time previously served for related offences, will not return to prison.

The Melbourne County Court heard that on February 7 Metaxiotis pulled up next to an Australia Post van on Brisbane St, shortly after 2pm, where he held a knife to the stomach of the driver and demanded his keys.

The victim, an Indian national working on a student visa, said he felt the knife on his stomach and feared he was about to be stabbed, court documents reveal.

Metaxiotis, wearing black sunglasses and a black baseball cap, was sitting in the passenger seat of a black Audi A4 sedan with a co-accused in the offending, before he exited the car and threatened the victim.

The court heard that after stealing the van Metaxiotis drove to number six Ormond Rd, closely followed by the black sedan, where the van was found by the victim 10 minutes later, who had begun to walk towards Mount Alexander Rd.

The back door of the van was open and the keys remained in the ignition, but the van had been emptied of 17 parcels.

Court documents reveal that the victim, unable to call for help as his phone remained in the van, was “shaking” when the incident was reported to his manager at 4pm that afternoon.

At 9.45pm police were called to Wallan-Whittlesea Rd in Upper Plenty following reports of a suspicious vehicle, where police found Metaxiotis asleep at the steering wheel of the same black sedan.

In sentencing, Judge David Brookes said Metaxiotis had “an unenviable criminal record”.

Mr Brookes said that in 2016 Metaxiotis had received a suspended jail sentence for stealing a car, and had been jailed for 20 days in 2018 for stealing-related charges.

He also noted that Metaxiotis had already spent 14 months in prison for related offences.

Mr Brookes told Metaxiotis that but for his guilty plea he would have faced 12 months in jail.