Those were the words of County Court judge Daniel Holding to a man who robbed two Seymour stores and stole a vehicle from another man.
Johnathan Fletcher, 22, of Seymour pleaded guilty in Shepparton County Court to armed robbery, robbery and theft.
He also pleaded guilty to three summary charges of committing an indictable offence while on bail.
The court heard Fletcher demanded cash from the manager of Liquorland in Seymour on January 10, escaping with $855 from the till.
Another staff member noticed Fletcher did not remove his hand from his jacket pocket, and the two workers feared he had a weapon during the robbery.
The court heard Fletcher went to tobacco shop King of the Pack on January 23 where he handed the sales assistant a note that said “Don’t fk around! Empty till. Put ciggerites (sic) in bag”.
Fletcher then told her to “get the f****** money out of the till”.
He then held a 35cm security torch, which the shop assistant thought was a baton, and brandished it as he demanded cigarettes and money.
A second employee, who was phoned by the shop attendant during the incident, gave Fletcher $450, two packets of tobacco and five packets of cigarettes.
The court was also told that in a separate incident, Fletcher stole a Volkswagen Amarok ute while at a Moranding property mowing lawns with another man on January 12.
When the owner later found the ute at Fletcher’s Seymour house, Fletcher broke down in tears and apologised for stealing it.
In his sentencing, Judge Holding outlined the findings of a psychological report and said Fletcher had a traumatic upbringing and that his “whole life was traumatic”.
He also said a neuropsychological report said Fletcher had a cognitive deficit that was in the moderate to mild range, an acquired brain injury, major depressive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, ADHD, stimulant misuse disorder and probably suffered from foetal alcohol spectrum disorder.
The defence argued the offending was “unsophisticated, there was little in the way of a disguise, little planning and little money was stolen”.
Judge Holding referenced a three-year sentence Fletcher was given for armed robbery in 2019, and said his “prospects of rehabilitation are bleak”.
In sentencing Fletcher, Judge Holding told him he was still young and needed to “find a way to stop the temptation of using illicit drugs” or he would keep offending and spend much of his life in jail.
Fletcher was sentenced to a total of four years in jail, with two years and eight months to be served before he would be eligible for parole.
The 197 days he has spent in pre-sentence detention were reckoned as time already served.
His driver’s licence was also disqualified for 14 months.
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