A WARRNAMBOOL man has pleaded guilty to his involvement in an armed robbery at a city BP service station and had his case adjourned until November.
Benjamin Matthew Claridge, 27, of Wattle Grove, appeared in Warrnambool Magistrates Court yesterday via a video link.
He entered guilty pleas to charges of armed robbery, burglary, theft, possessing cannabis and being a prohibited person in possession of an unregistered firearm.
Magistrate Jonathan Klestadt received a hand-up brief and adjourned the hearing of the case until the next sitting of the Warrnambool County Court starting on November 19.
Mr Claridge did not make a bail application and was remanded in custody until that date.
Mr Claridge was arrested on June 25 this year after a lengthy police investigation.
Two days earlier The Standard had reported Warrnambool police detectives as saying they were only “one vital clue” away from solving the armed robbery late last year at the BP service station on Raglan Parade. Detective Senior Constable Wayne Ryan, of the Warrnambool police criminal investigation unit, said at the time there were a number of specific leads to follow up.
He said the woman victim, an employee, had been left badly shaken by the armed robbery, which happened at 5.10am on Thursday, December 8, at the BP service station in west Warrnambool.
