Ngor Bol attempts armed robbery on Elizabeth St, Richmond
A victim of an attempted armed robbery in Richmond has described the “shabby” incident as “almost comical” as the offender made some interesting choices in his quest for a quick buck.
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A victim of an attempted armed robbery in Richmond has described the “shabby” incident as “almost comical”, a court has heard.
Ngor Bol told his four victims he was having a bad day moments before he pulled a knife on them, as security guards worked nearby.
The 23-year-old fronted the County Court on Thursday, August 13, to be sentenced over the incident at an apartment block on March 4.
Judge Fiona Todd said regardless of whether the attempted burglary was comical, Bol had frightened four people, making them feel variously shaky, panicked and helpless.
The court heard Bol approached his victims, who were playing Pokemon Go in an undercover area at 106 Elizabeth St, about 7.33pm, saying he was having a bad day.
They said they were sorry to hear that, and they hoped his day got better, before Bol left, then quickly returned.
Bol asked if the group wanted to “do this the easy way or the hard way”, pulling a 15cm knife from his pants and pointing it at them, telling them to give him their phones.
They refused and moved away from him, before he tried to snatch a woman’s phone and she told him to put the knife away, saying there was no need for it.
A man told Bol the scenario wasn’t going to end well for him because he was outnumbered and there were security guards close by.
Bol responded,““I don’t give a f***, I don't care, do you want to get shanked?” and attempted to take another man’s phone.
The several-minute long encounter was captured on CCTV.
The group ended up walking away and getting help from the security guards, who called the police.
Bol also walked away and was arrested on the corner of Lennox and Victoria streets shortly after, found to be carrying the knife and small amounts of methamphetamine and heroin.
The court heard Bol had earlier consumed alcohol and methamphetamine and was serving a community corrections order.
Jude Todd said the offending was opportunistic and poorly executed.
“The shabby nature of your offending caused one of the victims to describe it as ‘almost comical’,” she said.
Judge Todd said while the victims were not harmed and didn’t lose any property they were emotionally affected.
She noted Bol had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity, had shown remorse and had been in custody at an unusually difficult time because of conditions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The court heard Bol’s family had emigrated to Australia from a Kenyan refugee camp when he was eight, and he had been exposed to horrific violence growing up.
Judge Todd said the former Startrack courier had good prospects of rehabilitation, sentencing him to nine months’ jail, with 162 days having already been served, followed by a 15-month corrections order.
She fined him $200 for the drugs, and said she would have sentenced him to 24 months’ jail with a non-parole period of 15 months if he hadn’t pleaded guilty.
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