A teen accused of robbing a taxi driver in the middle of the day in a Shepparton street did so at the same time he was supposed to be fronting court on an attempted armed robbery charge, a court has heard.
Jarrah Weston, 19, of Shepparton, applied for bail in Shepparton Magistrates’ Court.
He is charged with robbery, theft and assault.
Shepparton Crime Investigation Unit Detective Senior Constable Geordie Thomas told the court Weston and another male and a female got into a taxi in Poplar Ave in Shepparton shortly before 1.40pm on September 20.
The court was told the group requested stops in several different locations, before the taxi driver pulled over in Packham St, near Gillam St, and asked for payment, as he feared the group was not going to pay for the ride.
Det Sen Constable Thomas told the court Weston grabbed the taxi driver from behind and punched the man in the back of the neck and head three times before the other male stole the taxi driver’s shoulder wallet, which contained $900 in cash.
The court was also told that in a separate incident Weston and the woman stole a remote control car from Cash Converters in Shepparton the previous day.
Weston and the woman were arrested on Wednesday, September 25.
The woman was charged and bailed on theft charges over the alleged Cash Converters theft, and was released pending further inquiries about the taxi incident.
The court heard that when Weston was interviewed by police, he said the other male solely committed the robbery on the taxi driver.
Det Sen Constable Thomas asked for Weston to be remanded in custody, saying he was a serious risk of endangering the safety and welfare of other people.
“He has no regard for his victim’s safety and welfare,” he said.
“The taxi driver was simply doing his job in daylight and in public view.”
Det Sen Constable Thomas said police had been told Weston was using methamphetamines on a daily basis and officers believed he was “committing offences to fund his drug habit”.
Det Sen Constable Thomas told the court on the day of the robbery, Weston had been meant to be at court at 10am on armed robbery and aggravated burglary charges.
When he was still not there at 2pm, Weston’s solicitor made several calls to him that finally saw him turn up at court at 3pm — an hour and a half after the taxi driver was robbed.
“In the time between they were meant to be at court and when they got to court, they have assaulted and robbed a taxi driver,” Det Sen Constable Thomas.
In a bail application that ran over two separate days, magistrate Olivia Trumble told Weston’s solicitor, Ian Michaelson, at the end of the first day that she wanted Weston to go to residential rehabilitation.
The following day Mr Michaelson told the court he had arranged an intake for Weston at Rumbalara’s Woongi Unit, which deals with drugs and alcohol issues, but a residential rehabilitation bed had not yet been found.
Ms Trumble further remanded Weston in custody to come before the court on Thursday, October 3, to find out if a bed had become available.
Ms Trumble was concerned about bailing Weston into the community earlier, as it was just before a long weekend and no supports would be available to him for several days.