'You need to give me all your money': Women robbed at knife-point at work

The two women, both aged 52, were working at the Portland Football Netball Cricket Club at Hanlon Park, in Henty Street, on July 27, 2023, when Scott King arrived, armed with a knife.

The 33-year-old pleaded guilty in Warrnambool County Court on April 12, 2024, to armed robbery and bail offences, and was jailed for more than two years.

The court heard King was captured on CCTV entering the club via the player's entrance door shortly after 7pm.

He went into the security office through an unlocked door where he was met by a witness, who he apologised to, stating he thought he was in the pokies area.

King, who was under the influence of a cocktail of alcohol, methamphetamine and Xanax, then went through the gaming room entrance.

He walked behind the bar where the two senior staff members were working, told them he was being chased and that someone was trying to kill him.

One of the women told him to sit down, watch TV and offered him a cold drink.

But King pulled out a 30-centimetre-long knife and said: "no, you need to give me all your money".

The woman discreetly pushed a distress button as she pulled out bundles of cash worth about $300.

King took the money and demanded they open a safe which the victims said they didn't know the combination for.

He then asked the same woman for her jewellery, asking if it was "gold or Gucci", which she denied.

King grabbed the woman's gaming licence from her chest, tried to initiate a fist bump with her, and again pulled the knife out.

He received another $2900 in cash from a drop safe cupboard, as well as a plastic box containing about $500 in coins.

He took the cash and immediately fled the scene.

The victims called for help and patrons ran outside where they saw King running west on Henty Street toward Blair Street.

King was seen throwing the plastic container with coins, the knife and his phone on the ground as he fled.

Those items were later seized by police and the man was identified through his phone.

Police attended his father's home, where King resided, later that night but he wasn't home - breaching his bail conditions.

The court heard police had to escort the women to their cars during their shifts in the aftermath of the offending.

One victim said in an impact statement she no longer went for daily walks as she was always looking over her shoulder.

She said she lost her quality of life, empowerment and self-determination and was left with feelings of shame, guilt and fear.

The other victim said she was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder after her life was threatened with a deadly weapon.

"Although this crime was about taking money and valuable goods, it's taken so much more from me," she said.

She said the crime stole her sense of safety, security and trust in the world.

"After it first happened I couldn't even go to the supermarket. I was terrified of being out in public," she said.

King told the court he was "deeply, deeply remorseful" and "truly sorry".

"I am in shock I could actually do such a terrible thing to innocent people," he read from a letter.

His father Gary King, who trains police officers at his boxing business in Portland, said he suffered a heart attack in the lead up to the offending and his son "lost the plot".

He said upon his son's eventual release from custody they would move to Geelong, away from Portland's "very bad drug culture".

Barrister Ashlea Patterson, representing King, conceded her client had a lengthy criminal history involving previous jail sentences.

She said King suffered grief in "fairly tragic circumstances" as a child and had abused drugs, which he had relapsed into immediately prior to the armed robbery.

She said King, who is already serving a 10-month jail sentence for recklessly causing injury to a woman he knew, wanted to be rehabilitated and had undertaken relevant courses in custody.

Judge Gavan Meredith said while the offending was "in someway amateurish" - involving no disguise, making getaway on foot and discarding his phone - King's demands were persistent.

"Your brandishing of the knife in order to further your demands has resulted in significant harm to your two victims," he said.

King was jailed for two years and six months with a non-parole period of 15 months.

The judge ordered he serve his sentences concurrently, which means he will have about eight months to serve at the conclusion of his current sentence.