Melton dad Shaun Wos jailed for robbing Golden Fleece Hotel

From footy star to convicted crim, this young Melton dad’s fall from grace was as spectacular as it was tragic.

Young dad Shaun Wos pleaded guilty to robbing Melton's Golden Fleece Hotel three times between November 2018 and January. Picture: Sarah Matray

A young footy-mad Melton dad’s downward spiral into drugs and armed crime was sparked after he gave up the sport he loved, a court has heard.

Convicted robber Shaun Wos, 33, had it all before his drug and gambling addiction got the better of him, the County Court heard on November 24.

He had a stable job as a storeman and truck driver, a house in Caroline Springs, a loving wife and a young daughter, now aged 13 months.

But in February he lost his job after he was arrested at work in Yarraville for three terrifying armed robberies at the Golden Fleece Hotel in Melton between November 2018 and January this year.

On each occasion Judge Peter Lauritsen told the court Wos armed himself with a large kitchen knife before stealing cash from the till.

He made off with a total $3220 after all three burglaries and was driven to offend by his debilitating gambling and methamphetamine addictions, Judge Lauritsen told the court.

“Your drug debts lead you to falling behind in your mortgage payments, despite working, your drug and gambling debts saw you borrowing from your mother and from lenders, the later extended short term loans with high interest rates,” he said.

“It ultimately became unmanageable and you were forced to sell your home.”

Wos, who had recently separated from his partner and moved out of the Melton rental property, had also been declared bankrupt as a means of clearing his $34,000 debt, Judge Lauritsen told the court.

He told the court football had been an outlet for Wos until his 20s, when he gave up the sport to focus on work and his family.

But it was then Judge Lauritsen told the court that drugs and gambling became Wos’s means of coping with stress and had put him behind bars despite his previously clean criminal record.

“In your (court reference) letter, your wife expresses astonishment at you committing these offences. When first contacted by the police, she queried them as to whether they had the right person. She could not believe you were capable of committing serious offences, however I can,” he told the court.

“Under the influence of this drug, previously peaceful persons are capable of committing violent offences.”

Judge Lauritsen sentenced Wos to two years’ and two months’ jail with a non-parole period of one and a half years.

He declared 129 days’ presentence detention time served.