A YOUNG Warrnambool district man who donned a balaclava and armed himself with a knife before trying to rob a Ballarat store has been jailed for an additional two months.
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The youth, who cannot be named because he is aged under 18 years, pleaded guilty in court via a video link to attempted armed robbery.
He appeared in on video from custody after refusing to get on a bus to travel to Warrnambool court, saying he feared being locked up in the police station cells. The youth is currently serving a six-month sentence in a youth justice centre.
On the attempted armed robbery charge a magistrate imposed a sentence of six months, with two months to serve on top of his existing sentence, and the other four months to be served concurrently.
Police said that at 7.45am on July 11 this year the youth and an older co-accused went to the Joseph Street milk bar in Ballarat. The co-accused engaged a woman attendant in conversation before the youth entered the store wearing a balaclava armed with a hunting knife.
He approached the counter, demanded money but the attendant retreated and her elderly father intervened.
The youth left the store. Nothing was stolen and no one was harmed. The boy and his co-accused were identified through security camera footage.
The youth was arrested in the Warrnambool district on October 1. He made admissions to his offending, telling police he was camping in Ballarat, the armed robbery was the co-accused’s idea and he felt pressured to be involved.
He said if he did not take part he thought he would be bashed. The plan had been to scare the female attendant into handing over cash, he said.
