Double-murderer John Lindrea pleads guilty to Westmeadows Tavern holdup, court hears
A double-murderer so accustomed to life behind bars held up a suburban pub so he could get locked up again, a court has heard.
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A convicted double murderer so accustomed to life behind bars committed a terrifying armed robbery at a suburban pub so he could be locked up again.
Just over two years after finishing his 25-year jail term for the 1992 killing of Kaelene McDonald and Andrew Johns in Kinglake, John Lindrea donned a balaclava and armed himself with a sawn-off shotgun to target the Westmeadows Tavern.
Lindrea, 59, and his unknown accomplice cut a hole in the tin roof of the tavern, north of Melbourne, to gain entry about 3am on March 2 last year.
The two gunmen lay in wait for two hours until the tavern’s manager arrived, ambushing her and pointing their guns 15cm from her face as she opened the doors.
“Get on the ground,” they ordered, before demanding she hand over her gold Apple watch.
They then escorted her around the tavern at gunpoint, instructing her to open safes and an ATM, before locking her in a cupboard.
Lindrea pleaded guilty in Victoria’s County Court on Wednesday to armed robbery, prohibited person possess a firearm and false imprisonment.
His lawyer Matthew Page told the court that Lindrea “can only be described as a man who is institutionalised”.
“This offending screams of someone who subconsciously feels more comfortable in custody and wishes to return there,” Mr Page said.
Evidence of this is, he says, is when Lindrea leaves his DNA all over the tavern, even removing his balaclava and gloves and throwing them in a bin in the gaming area.
Lindrea also stares down the barrel of a camera while drinking pre-mixed Jack Daniels and cola bottles he had grabbed from the fridge, and left at the scene.
So bungled was the robbery, the men left the bag they had filled with more than $176,000 behind in their panic to escape when police circled around the tavern.
Mr Page said it was “serious” offending in which Lindrea knew he would face “a significant term of imprisonment”.
The court heard Lindrea had an extensive criminal history, which had seen him spend all but four years of his adult life behind bars.
He was jailed for 25 years over the double murder of Ms McDonald and Mr Johns, who he shot dead when gatecrashing a house-warming party in Kinglake in 1992.
Lindrea also deviously broke out of two maximum security prisons, and has racked up convictions for multiple bank hold-ups, burglaries and thefts.
In 2000, he was part of the infamous “Trial from Hell” in the County Court, where he stood accused, alongside four others, of beating triple killer Gregory Brazel at Barwon Prison.
During the trial, his co-accused, including Matthew Johnson, who would later go on to kill gangland figure Carl Williams, threw a bag of human faeces at the jury, swore at the judge, and bared their behinds.
Lindrea largely remained quiet and seated during the shenanigans, leaving him the only accused to be not charged with contempt.
The jury also acquitted him of assaulting Brazel.
Judge Daniel Holding said Lindrea’s criminal history was “appalling”.
He will sentence Lindrea at a later date.
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