A robber who held up an acquaintance at gunpoint in an ambush at the Dapto skate park will spend at least another two years in prison for his crime.
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Unanderra man Brayden Stephens, 23, was sentenced this month in the Wollongong District Court after a jury found him guilty of armed robbery.
Late on the night of January 6 last year, Stephens sent a text message to the victim - who he knew through their families - asking about drugs.
A plan was formed in which an associate of the victim would provide an ounce of methamphetamine for $7000.
The victim picked up his associate from a Berkeley address and headed to Dapto McDonalds, before a change of plans saw them make their way to the car park of the Dapto skate park on Bong Bong Road about 1am on January 7.
There they met Stephens, who with the associate discussed weighing the meth.
A short time later an unidentified male, wearing a black face covering and brandishing a firearm, emerged from the bushes while Stephens pulled out a handgun from the front of his pants and pointed it at the victim.
The unidentified male demanded money and the drugs from the associate, who threw a brown paper bag containing the meth on the ground before running towards the skate park.
The male and Stephens gave chase but were unable to catch him, with Stephens wearing a moon boot at the time.
Stephens shouted at the man, "I'm going to kill you".
He then returned to the victim, pointed the handgun at him and said: "Give me your phone and everything you've got".
The victim handed over his Samsung Galaxy S10 mobile phone.
Stephens looked him in the eye, said "I'm sorry", then drove away in his Toyota Corolla.
Meanwhile, the other male and a second unidentified male, also holding a firearm, got into the victim's vehicle and took off.
The victim walked to his cousin's home and then driven back to his home, where police attended and he formally reported the matter.
His associate had fled to his aunt's home.
Stephens was arrested five days later.
In sentencing, Judge John Hatzistergos said Stephens' crime was aggravated because he committed it with two others.
The crime did not require extensive planning, Judge Hatzistergos said, but it did see a change of location from the McDonald's to the skate park, where the limited lighting allowed the offenders to carry out the ambush.
The judge noted that without knowing the identities of the other two men involved in the crime, Stephens' involvement in initiating the robbery cannot be determined.
Judge Hatzistergos said he accepted some reduction of Stephens' moral culpability because of his drug use that stemmed from "longstanding emotional and psychiatric difficulties" resulting from trauma in childhood.
But Stephens was on parole for crimes that included assault occasioning actual bodily harm and being armed with intent to commit an indictable offence.
While Stephens said he was sorry for what had happened, Judge Hatzistergos said he did not plead guilty nor accept responsibility.
But he said Stephens had reasonable prospects of rehabilitation if he continued to undergo treatment for his drug and mental health issues.
Judge Hatzistergos said the crime was a "serious instance of offending".
"Whilst there was no actual force used the intensity of the threat was significant," he said.
Judge Hatzistergos jailed Stephens for five years and a half years with a non-parole period of three years and four months dating from July 2021, taking into account the revocation of parole from his prior sentence.
Stephens will become eligible for parole in November 2024.
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Natalie Croxon
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
