James Rowles pleads guilty to robbery, and trafficking charges
A Bell Post Hill father involved in a planned robbery, sold drugs within the community to make ends meet.
Geelong
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A Bell Post Hill father who admitted to robbery and drug trafficking turned to crime after he “fell into a milieu of drug dependency”.
James Rowles, 36, pleaded guilty on Friday in the Geelong County Court to charges of robbery, trafficking in a drug of dependence and dishonestly receiving stolen goods.
Crown Prosecutor Richard Pirrie told the court Rowles was part of a plan to lure a man to a house in Corio and rob him.
Mr Pirrie said Rowles sold ice and police had discovered the information through a telecommunications interception.
He said on June 20, 2021, Rowles drove his co-offender, Jasmine Yates-Malone, to meet the victim at the Gateway Hotel in Corio.
After she was picked up by the victim about 2.30am, Yates-Malone told the victim to drive to a property in Merlin Crescent, Corio.
Just under an hour later, Rowles and antoher co-offender, Brodie Bell, arrived at the house and were let in.
The pair demanded money from the victim who placed his placed his wallet, car keys, cigarettes, and phone on the kitchen bench.
Rowles grabbed the belongings from the bench and as a guise, also took Yates-Malone’s purse before leaving the property in the victim’s vehicle with Bell.
As part of police investigations into the incident, officers analysed Yates-Malone’s phone and listened to a number of conversations between her and Rowles where they spoke about dealing methamphetamine.
Police searched Rowles’ Bell Post Hill home on October 13, 2021 and found five bags of ice as well as a stolen registration plate.
Rowles’ defence barrister James Page said his client was unemployed at the time of offending and “struggling to make ends meet” to support his family.
“He is not working and he has fallen into a milieu of drug dependency and he falls into a world where he has not been a part of before,” Mr Page said.
Rowles will be sentenced on November 3.
On May 5, 2023 Yates-Malone pleaded guilty to robbery and other unrelated offences and was sentenced to a 12-month community corrections order.
On May 16, Bell pleaded guilty to the charge of robbery and was sentenced to 176 days jail and an 18 months community corrections order.
satria.dyer-darmawan@news.com.au
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