Stephen Lamont jailed over armed robbery attempt, intentionally causing injury

A would-be armed robber jumped the counter and chased a teen convenience store worker into a storeroom in a “vicious” and prolonged attack, a court has heard.

Stephen Lamont pleaded guilty to attempted armed robbery, intentionally causing injury and theft in the County Court at Geelong on Friday.

A would-be armed robber jumped the counter of a Geelong 7-Eleven and attacked a worker in a “vicious” and prolonged attack, a court has heard.

Stephen Douglas Lamont, 23, appeared in the County Court at Geelong on Friday and pleaded guilty to attempted armed robbery, intentionally causing injury and theft.

He was convicted and jailed by Judge Geoff Chettle for 19 months, to be followed by a three-year community corrections order (CCO).

The court heard on July 2 last year, Lamont entered the 7-Eleven on the corner of Separation St and Thompson Rd in North Geelong at about 8.15pm, armed with a crude, bent metal-bladed implement he had plucked from a garden.

The night before Lamont had stolen $32 worth of food items from the same store. This time, Lamont selected two pastries and took them to the counter.

When the 19-year-old worker went to scan them, Lamont grabbed his arm.

Fearing for his safety, the victim rang triple-0 and fled into the rear storeroom.

Lamont climbed over the wire barrier and followed him, headbutting the teen, punching him several times and holding him to the ground.

He pulled the bladed weapon from his jacket, stabbing the victim multiple times in the neck and body, demanding the victim hand over money and his car keys.

The court heard the “courageous” teen tried to hold his own during the altercation, which lasted about 18 minutes.

During, Lamont grabbed a metal bar from the ground and hit the victim with it before holding the bar against the victim’s throat and punching him again.

The incident came to an end when police arrived on the scene and found the two men “wrestling” in the storeroom.

Lamont, who the court heard was six weeks into a CCO, made admissions after being arrested.

The court heard at the time, Lamont had been living in temporary accommodation and was using ice daily.

In sentencing Lamont, Judge Chettle described the offending as serious and aggravated by being committed against a soft target.

Lamont’s attack was “prolonged and vicious”, the stabbing “frenzied and nasty” and resulting in numerous, but fortunately minor, injuries to the victim.

However, Judge Chettle said it was also unsophisticated and “totally nonsensical”, while Lamont’s crude weapon was not a knife or a firearm.

However, a number of mitigatory factors raised by Lamont’s lawyer, barrister Jonathon Barreiro, and concessions made by the prosecution, convinced Judge Chettle not to impose a parole-sentence but “not without some hesitation”.

These factors included his youth and immaturity, early guilty plea, co-operation with police and reported remorse.

Lamont’s “disrupted and deprived childhood” and resulting PTSD were also noted, as were his prospects for rehabilitation, if he could stay off drugs.

“You have the opportunity to really turn your life around,” Judge Chettle told Lamont.

Lamont, who was supported in court by his mother and brother, had 269 days of pre-sentence detention reckoned as time served and must complete 300 hours of unpaid community work.

But for his guilty plea, Judge Chettle said he would have jailed Lamont for four years, with a non-parole period of two-and-a-half years.

Originally published as Stephen Lamont jailed over armed robbery attempt, intentionally causing injury