A man accused of robbing the Tarrawanna post office and Balgownie Mini-Mart while dressed in a 'onesie' has been granted strict bail after his lawyer successfully argued the police case against him was weak.
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Police allege Cory Milgate, 19, was one of two men responsible for the midnight robberies last Wednesday, which resulted in the theft of thousands of dollars worth of cigarettes, electronic equipment, costume jewellery and watches.
They claim a search warrant conducted at Milgate's home on Sunday afternoon uncovered clothing closely matching that which had been worn during the robberies, including a pair of runners with distinctive pink laces.
However, defence lawyer Kirby Powell argued the case against her client was "circumstantial" at best.
"No DNA or fingerprints were found at the scenes," she said.
"There's significant issues in relation to [proving] these matters."
Court documents reveal CCTV footage captured two people breaking into the post office at 1.17am by smashing the bottom of the front glass door.
Once inside, the pair jump the counter and begin removing boxes and "rummaging through" the shelves.
They then move on to the display cabinets, removing a large quantity of jewellery worth $2000, approximately 20 watches worth $400 amd ornaments valued at $240.
The pair also took about $600 worth of cigarettes.
Police allege one of the robbers, described as wearing a blue and yellow onesie, a plain white hat with a dark logo on the right-hand side, a balaclava over his face, white and red coloured socks over his hands and white and pink joggers, is Milgate.
The other person is described as wearing a grey jumper, white balaclava, dark coloured long pants, black and white Nike shoes, and a dark cap.
Meantime, police allege two people wearing the same "distinct" clothing are captured on CCTV breaking into the Balgownie Mini-Mart 90 minutes later.
The pair are seen to smash the glass front door to gain entry and once inside, take up to 20 packets of cigarettes from behind the counter.
They also took an ipad and a charity tin inside the store before fleeing.
The court heard police stopped Milgate at Bellambi about 1pm that afternoon to speak to him about an unrelated matter, at which time he was seen wearing a cap similar to those depicted in the CCTV footage and a gold chain allegedly matching one stolen in the post office robbery.
He was allowed to leave but arrested on Saturday on unrelated matters.
At the time he was found in possession of two pieces of costume jewellery and photos on his phone of "cheap looking watches".
The post office owner later confirmed they sold both brands at the store.
Police raided Milgate's home on Sunday, uncovering shoes matching those depicted in the robbery footage, along with a white Lavoste branded cap and a black Gucci shoulder bag.
Milgate was arrested on Monday afternoon and charged with two counts of aggravated break, enter and steal.
In granting him bail on Tuesday, Magistrate Peter Thompson accepted that the current case against Milgate was not a strong one, however imposed syringent conditions on his release including daily reporting, a nighttime curfew and a prohibitipn on going near either of the robbed stores.
The case returns to court on September 25.