Anthony Lee Donohue jailed for Lighthouse Hotel armed robbery

A Tasmanian man who robbed the gaming lounge of a popular pub was sunk after he botched his getaway, a court has heard. Find out how long he’ll be behind bars.

A career crim who has been in and out of jail for much of his adult life was linked to an armed robbery at a North West Tasmania pub by DNA contained on a balaclava and sunglasses which had been dropped in a nearby backyard.

Anthony Lee Donohue, 33, who has maintained a variety of addresses including at Emu Heights, Penguin and Wynyard, was sentenced in Launceston Supreme Court on Monday after a jury earlier found him guilty of armed robbery.

The offence occurred about 930pm on May 2 last year at Ulverstone’s The Lighthouse Hotel.

Justice Tamara Jago told the court Donohue presented himself at the pub wearing a balaclava, gloves and small backpack, with some sort of instrument, described as a “cylindrical metal object”, tucked into one of his sleeves.

He walked into the gaming room and “thrust the weapon in a manner that suggested he was holding a firearm” at a staff member counting a till.

She deposited its contents, $5000–$8000, none of which has been recovered, into the backpack and Donohue fled via a nearby residence’s backyard.

Donohue made the mistake of dropping the balaclava and a pair of sunglasses in the backyard and subsequent DNA analysis would link the items to him.

Justice Jago told the court she could not be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt Donohue was wielding a firearm, so she would sentence him on the basis it was an inanimate object wielded to look like a gun.

“You behaved in a manner that you wanted staff to believe it was a firearm to create fear and intimidation. (The fact that it was not a gun) does not diminish the psychological harm caused to the staff member,” Justice Jago said.

The victim staff member suffered “considerable” psychological trauma, leaving her with “nightmares and panic attacks” and requiring her to take time off work.

With the support of the hotel, she has slowly been eased back into work, the court heard.

Justice Jago told the court Donohue had more than 50 convictions for offences of dishonesty, violence, breaching court orders and traffic.

The court heard Donohue’s life took a downward turn when, aged 15, his elder brother, who he idolised and was aged 19 at the time, died in a traffic accident.

He subsequently turned to alcohol and drugs, specifically methamphetamine, and committed property and dishonesty offences to sustain his addiction.

Justice Jago sentenced Donohue to three years and nine months’ imprisonment, backdated to November 25 last year.

He will be parole-eligible after serving half his sentence.