Accused heist mastermind Pasquale Lanciana granted bail
The alleged mastermind of a movie-style heist in Richmond, has been granted bail while he awaits a retrial after a jury failed to reach a verdict.
Law & Order
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The accused mastermind behind one of Melbourne’s most infamous armed robberies has won his bid for freedom after a jury failed to reach a verdict.
Pasquale “Percy” Lanciana was yesterday granted bail while he awaits retrial which is unlikely to be held before April next year.
The champion kickboxer has spent 960 days in custody after he was charged with the Richmond road gang robbery in which five men posed as road-workers to hold up an Armaguard truck carrying $2.3 million from the Reserve Bank in June 1994.
During the five-week trial the court heard two gun wielding bandits used duplicated keys to storm the van, place garbage bags over the guards’ heads before cuffing them together, driving to a nearby side street and dumping the truck and hostages. The robbers and money have never been found.
Mr Lanciana had pleaded not guilty to the crime.
Police hopes of a conviction 25 years after the movie-style heist made headlines were dashed when a jury failed to find Mr Lanciana guilty or not guilty.
Judge Michael O’Connell said the parties had “fought themselves to a draw”.
In granting bail, Judge O’Connell said he had considered the prospect Lanciana could spend three years in custody and then be acquitted at the retrial.
“There must be serious live questions as to the strength of the prosecution case,” Judge O’Connell said.
“It seems inimicable to the service of justice,” he said.
Prosecutor Jim Saw had argued Mr Lanciana presented a risk to a witness who had testified against him during the trial and whose evidence was central to the case.
The secret witness, whose identity is suppressed, gave evidence that Mr Lanciana had allegedly confessed to her he had participated in the armed robbery and later wore a wire to record the admission.
Covert recordings played to the court allegedly heard Mr Lanciana tell the woman: “I didn’t do it, I just organised.”
The court heard Mr Lanciana had recently sent a letter to his daughter from prison in which he wrote: “She didn’t do anything wrong but she sacrificed me completely.”
“(She) is far from innocent,” the letter read.
Judge O’Connell said while he took the police’s concerns very seriously, he was not persuaded the letter “manifests the intention to threaten (her)”.
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“I see the letter as presenting frustration and a level of anger about how he became to be in the situation he is in,” he said.
The court heard his criminal history was not extensive and he had never breached a court order before.
Lanciana was granted bail on the condition he reside with his elderly mother in Seddon and report daily to Footscray police station.
He was also required to offer up a surety.
The 61-year-old was supported in court by his brothers and extended family members.
He sat stone faced as Judge O’Connell granted bail.
Mr Lanciana will likely return to court in April 2020 where he will contest the armed robbery charge as well as one count of false imprisonment and seven counts of money laundering