Neil Byrne robs Club X Bayswater after Amcal Nunawading attack
A man who pulled out a hammer and demanded cash from a woman working alone in a Bayswater sex shop has been slammed for going after “soft targets”.
Outer East
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A thug who used a hammer to threaten an employee at a Bayswater sex shop had previously been jailed for attacking a Nunawading pharmacist with a metal bar.
Neil James Byrne was sentenced to a minimum of three years’ jail when he fronted the County Court on October 7, having pleaded guilty to armed robbery.
The 43-year-old held up the Scoresby Rd Club X store almost four years after he tried to commit an armed robbery at Amcal Pharmacy Nunawading.
Byrne was the only customer in the adult store on April 12, the Easter Sunday public holiday, when he pulled a hammer from his jumper and raised it above his head, telling the lone female staff member to open the cash register.
When she did, Byrne grabbed $385 and demanded a bag to carry the cash.
He then walked to the rear exit, calling out, “The door better be open”, before he fled in his car, which was driven by his friend who had been waiting.
About four years earlier, on April 18, 2016, Byrne had threatened employees at Amcal Pharmacy after they refused to give him medication without a prescription.
It was after 9pm when he grabbed a female worker’s arm and said, “Give me the drugs,” before he chased her through the store and behind the counter.
The court heard the female pharmacist on duty ran to help, and Byrne grabbed the pharmacist and held a 30-40cm metal bar to her throat.
She screamed and managed to run out the front door before Byrne dragged her back into the store.
A man who had been in a nearby store heard the scream and ran and tackled Byrne, holding him until police arrived.
Byrne completed 18 months’ jail and 200 hours community work for the 2016 crime.
Judge William Stuart said surprisingly Byrne’s new “disgraceful conduct” bore a strong resemblance to the crime he’d been punished for, and he’d returned to drugs after treatment.
“Again your victim is a woman,” he said.
“Again the target of your attack was a soft target.
“You have chosen to return to your old lifestyle.”
Byrne used the cash to buy heroin immediately after committing the robbery, later telling police he did the robbery because he felt sick from heroin withdrawal.
Byrne was also convicted of cultivating and trafficking cannabis between getting out of jail and the robbery.
The court heard he had a supportive family, was remorseful and had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.
It was submitted Byrne had struggled with alcohol and substance abuse since his early teens and had reduced cognitive capacity, which would make custody more burdensome.
But Judge Stuart said he didn’t believe Byrne’s mental impairments had anything to do with his decision to commit the armed robbery.
Judge Stuart said he had taken into account the difficult restrictions in custody due to COVID-19 in sentencing Byrne to a maximum of four years’ and six months’ jail.
He had already served 175 days.
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