Killer John William Lindrea broke into Westmeadows Tavern and forced victim to empty safes at gunpoint
A convicted killer armed with a shotgun broke into a Melbourne tavern and held up a terrified worker - but an Adidas sneaker helped bring him undone.
A convicted killer armed with a shotgun broke into a Melbourne tavern and held up a terrified worker in a shocking armed robbery two years after he was released from prison for murder.
John Lindrea was jailed for 11 years and six months in the County Court of Victoria on Monday for the charges of armed robbery, false imprisonment and being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm.
The 59-year-old and an unknown accomplice broke in through the roof of the Westmeadows Tavern in the city’s north about 3am in March 2020.
The pair lay in wait for almost two hours for the assistant manager to arrive.
“Get on the ground,” the bandits ordered and aimed shotguns at the terrified woman’s face.
They made her hand over her Apple iWatch and forced her to open safes, tills and ATMs at gunpoint.
Lindrea and his accomplice stuffed more than $176,000 cash in a green canvas bag and locked their victim in a kitchen cupboard.
Before they could make their getaway a cleaner spotted them and called police but despite officer’s swarming the scene they were able to hide before making their escape.
Lindrea was caught a month later in April and told police he had hidden in a wall cavity until it became dark and officer’s left.
He refused to name his accomplice and the mystery robber’s identity remains unknown.
A key piece of evidence was a lone Adidas sneaker found in the pub’s roof which matched a pair he was wearing in CCTV footage.
Police also found Lindrea dumped his gloves and a balaclava at the venue. Seven months later a cleaner discovered the weapons stashed inside kitchen exhaust fans.
The court was told Lindrea had a lengthy criminal past but had a “deprived” background and was “institutionalised”.
While Judge Daniel Holding accepted this he said the man’s prospects of rehabilitation were “bleak” and labelled it serious offending.
In 1993 he was jailed for 25 years for the double murder of Kaelene McDonald and Andrew Johns who he gunned down after being asked to leave a party at Kinglake.
By then he’d already been convicted over conspiracy to commit two bank robberies and other charges.
He pleaded guilty to the latest offences at an early stage and will be eligible for parole after spending eight years and nine months behind bars.