‘Just give me the money’: David Cheyne jailed for axe armed robbery and high-speed crash
He’d been disqualified for driving for almost five years, but it didn’t stop a Frankston man taking his girlfriend’s car after eight hours of drinking then robbing a service station with an axe. And he may get his licence back as soon as he’s out of jail.
South East
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A drunken road menace who robbed a Frankston South service station with an axe before crashing his getaway car at high speed could be back on the road the day he leaves jail.
David Cheyne, 24, was sentenced in the County Court earlier this month to a minimum two years in jail after he pleaded guilty to several charges including armed robbery.
Cheyne also pleaded guilty to serious driving charges but was only disqualified from obtaining his licence for 12 months from the date of sentencing.
Cheyne drank beer for almost eight hours before he walked into the Frankston Caltex armed with a hatchet just before 6pm on November 26, 2018.
He placed the hatchet on the counter, pulled out a shopping bag and demanded attendant Rahul Ghandi Katam fill it up with cash.
“You know what to do, just give me the money, give me the money,” Cheyne said.
“The police aren’t gonna come, just give me the money.”
A second employee, Tanya Roberts, joined Mr Katam at the front counter.
Cheyne yelled at Ms Roberts that she “better not lock me in”.
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The thug fled with $250 and jumped in his girlfriend’s car — which he had borrowed without her permission.
Cheyne — disqualified in 2014 from obtaining a licence for four-and-a-half years — was spotted “driving erratically at a fast speed, in peak-hour traffic”.
He swerved into a parking lane and collided with a vehicle driven by Todd McKenna.
The collision caused damage to Mr McKenna’s vehicle but he suffered no major injuries.
Cheyne’s car spun out across two lanes of traffic and hit a speed sign on the highway median strip.
An off-duty police officer rushed to Cheyne’s aid but he ran away.
He was later arrested and taken to hospital.
The next day Cheyne told police he had been “piss drunk” after drinking at the Langwarrin Hotel and “everywhere” since 10am.
He also said he could not remember what happened and he had used ice in the past six months but wasn’t on it when he robbed the service station.
Cheyne’s poor road form dates back to 2014 when he lost his licence for 54 months for a stack of serious charges including failing to stop vehicle after an accident.
In 2017, Cheyne was found guilty of two charges of driving while disqualified and sentenced to one month’s imprisonment.
“You are fortunate that such driving did not end up with someone being killed or seriously injured,” Judge James Parrish said.
“Clearly, sentences ordered against you for past driving when unlicensed, have not deterred you from committing that offence.”
Cheyne, 24, was sentenced to a maximum of three years and three months in jail with a non-parole period of two years.
He had spent 249 days in custody at time of sentencing.