A teenager who held up a Benalla service station with a shotgun and was detected at speeds up to 150km/h as a learner driver has been sentenced to two years in custody.
Tyson Michael Smith-Anderson, 19, of Howlong, NSW, was sentenced in Melbourne County Court on September 1 to two years in a youth justice centre, with 212 days reckoned as already served.
He was also fined $600 and ordered to pay compensation for multiple thefts.
Judge Greg Lyon took into account Smith-Anderson’s young age, lack of criminal history, guilty plea, remorse, the full admissions made to police and that he had already spent six months in adult prison.
The court heard Smith-Anderson carried a loaded shotgun into a Benalla service station on Bridge St East before 7am on January 10 this year, where a female employee was working alone.
Holding the gun in both hands and pointing it towards the ceiling, Smith-Anderson and another person demanded cigarettes and cash from the woman, making off with $950 worth.
Judge Lyon said targeting a lone woman who was providing an essential service to the public was a “disgraceful act”.
He said Smith-Anderson’s actions had a “dire, life-altering effect” on the victim’s ability to feel safe and her overall wellbeing.
“It was you and your callous actions that caused this upheaval in the victim’s life,” Judge Lyon said.
Smith-Anderson stole $540 worth of fuel from petrol stations in Wangaratta and Wodonga during five occasions between December 16 and January 18.
He also stole a car after fleeing NSW police by swimming across the Murray River to Victoria on January 18.
The court heard Smith-Anderson, a learner driver, was detected driving at speeds up to 150km/h, attempted to overtake two trucks in an emergency lane and refused to stop on police direction three times.
“Your driving was all the more foolish by the fact you were not, and never have been, licensed to drive except under supervision,” Judge Lyon said.
The court heard Smith-Anderson had abused drugs and alcohol since he was 15 years old, at one stage drinking up to 12 cans of rum a day and smoking cannabis and methamphetamine.
Judge Lyon said he considered Smith-Anderson to have good prospects of rehabilitation, noting an impressive work history and work ethic, and solid family support.
“It’s not going to be an easy path for you,” he told Smith-Anderson during the sentencing.
“But you can do it — you can keep out of trouble.”
Judge Lyon referred to a psychological report that he said demonstrated Smith-Anderson required considerable treatment and counselling to prevent a relapse into drug and alcohol use.
The psychologist concluded Smith-Anderson reported symptoms indicating a major depressive disorder and considered he had a moderate risk of further offending, linked to drug and alcohol use.
Smith-Anderson pleaded guilty to armed robbery, possessing an unregistered category A longarm, six counts of theft and two counts of possessing a drug of dependence.
He also pleaded guilty to summary charges of driving without a supervising driver as a learner, driving in a dangerous manner and three counts of not stopping a vehicle on police direction.