A Bellambi woman is behind bars over an alleged failed plot to hold a man’s Apple iPhone to ransom.
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Police believe Bronwyn Robinson, 22, collected the phone from a chair at a Keira Street, Wollongong bus stop in the early hours of New Year’s Day, after the owner got drunk at a nearby pub and left it there on his way home.
Once home, the man used a friend’s phone to call his own, but there was no answer.
He again used a friend’s phone to send three text messages to his number that evening.
At 7.11pm, he got a reply: “Give me 150 dollars u can have your phone back”.
More messages followed at 9.08pm (“Are you going to give me 150”), at 9.09pm (“???”) and at 9.13pm (“Then I’ll tell you where to meet me”).
The man’s friend responded on his behalf five minutes later, “Mate I need the phone, so I’ll pay, but it has to be a public place”.
Police allege Robinson answered when the friend then called the missing phone, and that she attempted to arrange an exchange at Tony’s Chicken Shop in Mangerton.
The friend instead nominated Wollongong Rail Station as the drop-off point, before he and the phone’s owner went to Wollongong Police Station to report the plot.
Police were waiting on the western platform when Robinson appeared with a male friend at 10pm, allegedly as arranged.
She allegedly produced the missing mobile – an iPhone 7 Plus – from her bra area as she was being searched.
She was arrested and charged with demanding property with menace and goods in personal custody.
The former charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment.
Robinson sought release on bail as she appeared via AVL at Wollongong Local Court on Wednesday.
The court heard she was on a good behaviour bond already, and that she had repeatedly come to police attention in recent weeks.
“These are the third set of serious matters that she’s been charged with in the space of just over two weeks,” the registrar noted.
Robinson sobbed as bail was refused. The matter returns to court January 7.
Angela Thompson
Proudly Illawarra Mercury since 2008; these days covering crime and justice issues. UOW alum. Thrilled by the chase and sobered by some of the things I see and hear when I stand still - sometimes in the same day. ang.thompson@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Proudly Illawarra Mercury since 2008; these days covering crime and justice issues. UOW alum. Thrilled by the chase and sobered by some of the things I see and hear when I stand still - sometimes in the same day. ang.thompson@austcommunitymedia.com.au
