By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A homeless armed robber who pointed a sawn-off shotgun at a lone service station worker and demanded all of the station’s cash and cigarettes has been jailed.
Jack Rawson, 24, had knocked on the glass doors to be let into the United servo in Tooradin on the night of 12 February, the County Court of Victoria heard.
As the attendant’s back was turned to find him a requested brand of cigarettes, Rawson produced the weapon.
Under threat of gunpoint, verbal abuse and urgings to “go faster”, the worker filled a bag with about $500 cash from the till as well as $334 of cigarettes.
Ten days after the robbery, police arrested Rawson in the back seat of his car sitting on a clear bag of methamphetamine in Dandenong.
He had been living in the black Honda sedan at the time. He had been disqualified from driving for a month.
Rawson’s offending was linked to his expensive drug habit – using up to 20 points of ‘ice’ a day, usually by himself in his car, the court heard.
His time in remand while awaiting sentence was his first period of drug abstinence since his early teens.
During sentencing on 25 September, Judge Scott Johns said Rawson’s hold-up aimed to elicit terror.
Such armed robberies of “soft targets” were well-known to have a lasting psychological impact on victims, he said.
Judge Johns accepted Rawson’s letter of apology and desire to remain drug-free were “genuine”.
He noted Rawson’s “limited” criminal history and impressive work ethic as a concretor and tree lopper, considering his disadvantaged background.
As he grew up, Rawson and his family at times lived transiently across several Australian states and at times in a car.
During his time in remand, he’d studied for his first formal work qualifications as well as attending weekly Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
Rawson had the support of a “father figure” mentor and their family, who had offered him accommodation after his release.
Rawson was jailed for two-and-a-half years with a non-parole period of 15 months.
He was disqualified from driving for one year.
