Launston Shop manager leaves days after a traumatic armed robbery of $ 600

A terrified store manager left his job just a few days after looking at the gun cannon during a first thing in the morning that scored the perpetrator just $ 600, he heard the Supreme Court.

Phillip Bradley Harris, 50, will spend the next four years after bars after a jury determined that he was the masked man who entered the Post Office and the Ravenswood Post Office on November 11, 2022.

All the terrible experience of a minute was captured in CCTV, showing a hooded figure that faces the store manager while he was armed with what seemed to be a rifle equipped with a telescopic view.

Harris pointed to the worker directly, demanding in cash aggressively before leaving between $ 500 and $ 600 of the cash register.

Judge Robert Pearce, in his comments, said that armed robberies can have a great mental cost in innocent victims.

“They are often traumatized and suffer from long -term psychological symptoms,” he said, adding that the worker resigned “two weeks later as a result of theft and fear and anxiety it caused.”

“The armed robbery has been treated for a long time by the courts as a very serious crime for several reasons, and the thefts that involve the use of firearms are considered especially serious.”

The court heard that Harris had admitted the crime to his former partner, but said he was forced to do so after being “attacked and retained by the men who owed money to drugs.

However, CCTV images contradicted their statement, showing Harris with two accomplices before and after theft, then dividing the money stolen from each other.

“Even if it were the case that he committed this robbery as a result of threats of violence derived from a drug debt, I do not consider it an attenuating factor of any weight,” said Judge Pearce.

“Those who get into a position in which they face threats, even serious threats, derived from a drug debt cannot resort to crimes as serious as this, with all the damage it can do to others, as a means to escape their situation.”

Harris, a seven -year -old father who does not have the custody of his children, has a criminal record and has previously served in prison.

His four -year judgment was delayed until August 8, 2024, taking into account the 201 days that had already passed in custody.

It will be eligible for probation after turning two years.