Brett Julian Robinson-Stacey to be sentenced over 17-hour siege at Trevallyn
A young gunman who shot a woman in the leg before opening fire on police during a 17-hour stand-off in Launceston told officers he would “rather die than go back to prison”. Now he is facing a very lengthy sentence. CASE DETAILS >>
The Launceston News
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POLICE and residents took cover behind cars and in homes as a 23-year-old gunman fired bullets in all directions during a 17-hour siege at Trevallyn in 2018, a court has heard.
Brett Julian Robinson-Stacey is expected to receive a long prison sentence in the Supreme Court in Launceston on Wednesday for shooting a woman in the leg and then opening fire on police during the December stand-off at New World Ave.
The defendant, from northern Tasmania, on Tuesday pleaded guilty to several charges over two separate but connected shooting incidents.
Charges included causing grievous bodily harm, aggravated assault against police officers, recklessly discharging a firearm, injuring property by shooting cars, and assaulting police officers.
The court heard Robyn Lee Brown had broken into the Trevallyn home of Nomi Lea Mountney to steal cash as she believed Ms Mountney had sold her poor quality ice.
Crown prosecutor John Ransom said Ms Mountney returned home with her two teenage children, two other people and Robinson-Stacey to find Ms Brown allegedly stealing property.
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The court heard Ms Brown said: “You f...ing owe me money and I’m looking for it” before the two women began to fight.
Robinson-Stacey approached Ms Brown with a .22 calibre sawn-off rifle and told her to “get the f..k out of the house”.
The court heard he fired two rounds — one went through a door frame and the other hit Ms Brown in the left thigh. She screamed and fell to the floor.
Robinson-Stacey said “stop screaming or I’ll shoot you again” before picking up the two spent shell casings and leaving the house.
Ms Brown underwent surgery to reinforce a fractured femur with a metal rod.
A neighbour saw Robinson-Stacey walking on New World Ave carrying a sports bag with a gun inside, sent photos to police, then confronted him before the shooter returned to Ms Mountney’s home.
Police arrived and cordoned off the area and knocked on the door and used Robinson-Stacey’s nickname, saying: “Tubbsy, it’s the police.”
The detective heard a gunshot and the words “f... off” before taking cover behind a vehicle, and then retreated further as more gunshots were fired from the house.
One constable said in a police interview: “I saw Robinson-Stacey holding a shortened firearm pointing it in my direction. As I pulled my head in, I heard a shot fired.”
The bullet hit a nearby garden bed. The constable heard the shooter say: “Put your head out there you f...ing goose and I’ll shoot it.”
Special Operations Group officers stormed the home about 9am on December 8 and arrested Robinson-Stacey after he threatened to shoot Nomi Lea Mountney, who he claimed to be holding hostage.
In an interview with police, Robinson-Stacey said he fired towards police to scare them and stop them entering the house.
“I just can’t go back to jail. I’d rather die than go back to jail,” he said.
He said he told police Ms Mountney was his hostage so they would let him leave the scene.
“The risk that I put people in, it’s pathetic, and I never should have done it,” he said.
“The harm wasn’t intended on anyone other than me.”
Mr Ransom tendered victim impact statements from police officers and nearby residents who were affected by the incident to varying degrees.
The siege cost $33,706 in police overtime.
Mr Ransom said Robinson-Stacey, now 25, had a “bad record” of dishonesty and violent offending.
Defence Lawyer Fran McCracken said her client had only been out of prison two weeks and was a “very young man to have committed these offences”.
She said he only intended to fire a warning shot in the direction of Ms Brown, but the aim of the sawn-off rifle was skewed.
However he knew there was risk of the bullet hitting her.
“He was upset to be going back to jail so soon after his last sentence,” she said.
“He put himself in a position that he did not know how to get out of. After that he was deferring the inevitable. He was acting erratically.”
Ms McCracken said her client was under no illusion he would not receive a lengthy prison sentence.
Justice Robert Pearce will sentence Robinson-Stacey this afternoon.
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