Christopher Llewellyn sentenced for attempted armed robbery, theft

Christopher Llewellyn had pleaded guilty in the County Court sitting in Bendigo.

The court heard the father of two, who had a "chequered criminal history", had already served his period of imprisonment and his two-year CCO had now started.

Prosecutor David Cordy told the court Llewellyn, who lived on Butchers Road in Muckleford at the time of his offending, attempted to rob a male victim who was known to him on March 1, 2021, in Moolort in Victoria.

Llewellyn tried to rob the man of money by attempting to force him to make an online transaction while his co-accused brandished a sawn-off shot gun in the direction of the victim.

The court was told Llewellyn stole a Toyota Hilux belonging to the victim's boss, which the victim was driving, on the same date.

The court was told Llewellyn believed the victim had been in a relationship with a woman to whom he still owed money.

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On the date of the offending, the victim had been working in Maryborough when he met another woman who asked him to drop her at a friend's place on his way home to Bendigo.

Unknown to the victim, the friends the woman had planned to meet were Llewellyn and his co-accused at a roadside address on Baringhup Road in Moolort, near Maldon.

Once at the address, the victim started a conversation with Llewellyn before his co-accused emerged from the car and raised the gun towards the victim.

The court was told Llewellyn and the woman both looked surprised, and the woman told the man to put the gun away.

The woman has not been charged.

The victim began running away before the man yelled "keep f***ing running, I'll just let this off".

The victim fell over and walked back to the cars.

Llewellyn then told the victim to transfer money to his ex-partner but the victim said he had already discussed the matter with the woman.

The victim also said he did not have any money but Llewellyn forced him to show them his banking account.

There was a physical altercation when the victim thought he was going to be put in a vehicle belonging to the accused, but he then ran away.

The court heard "he jumped over a couple of barbed wire fences" and saw the vehicle - the Toyota - being driven away.

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The vehicle belonged to the victim's employer and had work equipment belonging to his boss inside, alongside the victim's phone and two house keys.

The victim then knocked on the door of a house where he was able to call the police and where the resident helped him with injuries he had sustained while running away.

Judge Stewart Bayles said it could be inferred that for Llewellyn, the man and the woman, "there was perhaps a plan to attempt some kind of robbery and the production of the gun turned that into an attempted armed robbery".

Judge Bayles acknowledged that both Llewellyn and the woman looked surprised when Burzacott produced the gun.

"Whatever the plan was prior to the production of the gun, and most unfortunately, you continued to act against (the victim)," Judge Bayles said.

"In any event, you must be seen to have adopted that escalation brought about by the production of the weapon by continuing in your course."

On March 9, 2021, police located the 2018 Toyota Hilux utility in bushland in Kamarooka.

Llewellyn was remanded in custody from March 15, 2021 and February 16, 2022 on this offending.

The court heard the offender was also remanded in custody on an unrelated matter between his arrest on October 4, 2022, and February 1, 2023, when he was sentenced to time served.

Although defence conceded Llewellyn had taken an active role in the attempted robbery and the car theft, constituting "serious offending", the court heard the defendant was not aware the other man had been armed.

The court heard Llewellyn had found employment and accommodation since his release.

The court was told he had been assaulted in 2015 and "did appear to have an acquired brain injury" alongside ADHD.

Llewellyn must complete 200 hours of unpaid community work, rehabilitation treatment for his drug use and mental health issues, programs to reduce the risk of him reoffending and undergo periodic judicial monitoring.

His licence has also been suspended for one month.

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