Samuel John Cooper pleads guilty to Port Douglas IGA knifepoint robberies and attempted bottle shop robbery with saw

The teenage son of a Qld council CEO was struggling with substance abuse when he left four victims in his wake, one of whom was just 14 years old, a court has heard.

A “shaken” staff member at the Port Douglas IGA hit the panic button while Cooper was robbing her at knifepoint, alerting police.

The teenage son of former Douglas Shire Council CEO was struggling with substance abuse when he attempted to rob a bottle shop with a saw, robbed the Port Douglas IGA with a knife, and took to a neighbour’s car with a golf club last year, a court has been told.

Samuel John Cooper, 19, left four victims in his wake, one who was just 14 years old and working at the IGA, with another female employee when the robbery occurred.

Cooper pleaded guilty in Cairns District Court to five charges over the three separate incidents in the Douglas Shire — attempted armed robbery, assault occasioning bodily harm, wilful damage, and two counts of armed robbery.

Judge Dean Morzone sentenced him to three years imprisonment, of which Cooper had already served 11 months on remand, and ordered that he be released immediately on parole.

“It seems the young man sitting here patiently listening to this speech is a very different young man from a year ago, who was out of control, reckless and hurting other people,” Judge Morzone said.

Judge Dean Morzone accepted that the 11 months Cooper had spent in custody on remand had given him time to think. He set an immediate parole release date saying he had shown remorse and promising signs of rehabilitation.

The court was told Cooper attempted his first robbery on March 9, 2024, at a Craiglie bottle shop, arming himself with a saw before demanding $100 from a female employee at the bottle shop.

He fled empty-handed when she was unable to open the cash register, the court was told.

Crown Prosecutor Ryan Smith said Cooper’s second robbery took place on the morning of June 23, 2024 at the Port Douglas IGA, where Cooper used to work.

He demanded money at knifepoint from a 14-year-old boy and his female co-worker, who did what they were told but managed to activate the panic button and alert police.

Both robberies were caught on closed circuit television camera and played to the court.

Mr Smith read the sad and eloquent victim impact statements from the young boy and the woman robbed by Cooper, which described their ongoing stress, fears and concern for one another.

“Being 14 years old at the time, I haven’t ever experienced such intense emotion … I tried to be strong and I thought I was doing OK, but now I realise I am not,” wrote the boy.

“I couldn’t really take in what was happening … it just seemed surreal like it was a joke being played on us.”

He described being rattled and triggered by people wearing hoodies months after the robbery and seeking help from parents and doctors recently.

“I hope I can overcome it. I don’t want to carry this experience around with me forever,” he wrote.

Samuel John Cooper was 18 when he robbed the Port Douglas IGA, which was staffed that day by a 14-year-old boy and a woman who both report ongoing stress, fear and mental health impacts from the crime.

The female victim described “feeling scared for her young co-worker”.

“I felt I was being controlled like a marionette puppet. I was shaking incredibly … the internal tremors carried on for weeks.”

Mr Smith said that, in addition to the robberies, Cooper argued with a neighbour over dog poo last year, punching the 40-year-old man, and later returning to his home with a golf club and smashing the man’s car windows.

Defence barrister Rachelle Logan said Cooper had been experiencing complex health and substance abuse issues at the time of the crime.

She said Cooper had “the very steady hand” of his mother for support, who flew to Cairns from South East Queensland for her son’s sentencing.

Cooper is the son of former Douglas Shire Council CEO, Rachel Brophy, who resigned from the position last year, and is now the CEO of the Southern Downs Regional Council based in Warwick.

Cooper also penned a “heartfelt letter of apology”, Ms Logan said, and had completed several courses in prison and taken a job as a unit cleaner.

“Cooper has a neurodevelopmental condition and at times he finds living in our society challenging (but) he has the scaffolding and structure around him from his mother, family friends and a very close relationship with his sister,” Ms Logan told the court.

“I can indicate that his mother is in a position to drive to Lotus Glen this afternoon to wait for him, and would be on the first flight out in the morning to report to the Toowoomba office in South East Queensland.”

Mother of Samuel Cooper, former Douglas Shire Council CEO and current Southern Downs Regional Council CEO, Rachel Brophy, attended her son’s sentencing, with the court told he would have significant “scaffolding and support” within his family if released on parole.

Cooper’s mother wept in court during the sentencing as Judge Morzone encouraged the teenager to continue to “think about things” as he had been in prison for the past 11 months, and to listen to his mother and sister to managing his rehabilitation.

He noted Cooper had struggled with childhood trauma, which his mother had tried to protect him from.

“(You were) driven with the substance to numb the things that were challenging you but it is not medicine; it is poison,” Judge Morzone said.

“You mother has been your rock … as she struggled to protect you and your sister … mothers are extraordinary people … but they carry a lot of guilt … they do their best.”

Judge Morzone said the teenager had no other relevant criminal history, pleaded guilty early, co-operated with police, was remorseful and showed he was “prepared to take responsibility and the consequences”, all factors he took into account in setting Cooper’s immediate parole date – the day of the sentencing.

Judge Morzone encouraged him to leave behind the drugs and pursue his dreams, which included an interest in a trade apprenticeship.

Originally published as Samuel John Cooper pleads guilty to Port Douglas IGA knifepoint robberies and attempted bottle shop robbery with saw