A 17-year-old boy was with a 19-year-old woman when he confronted a man in the Canberra Outlet Centre on 27 February. Photo: ACT Policing.
A confronting incident at a shopping mall earlier this year where a teenager threatened a man with a machete was “a theft that got extremely out of hand”, a defence lawyer has said.
A 17-year-old boy and 19-year-old woman went into the Canberra Outlet Centre in Fyshwick on 27 February, where they stole a pair of shoes from a store.
When the pair were confronted, the boy pulled a machete out of his pants and threatened a man.
Security cameras in the shopping centre captured the confrontation.
The pair fled the scene and the centre was placed into lockdown after the incident.
“While no persons were physically injured, this was a confronting incident for shop staff and witnesses,” a police spokesperson said at the time.
The boy and woman were arrested and charged in March, with the boy remanded in custody while the woman was granted bail.
She pleaded guilty to robbery and faced the ACT Magistrates Court on Tuesday (24 June) for sentencing, where CCTV of the incident was played to the courtroom.
Her lawyer, Georgia Briggs of Briggs Law, argued that her client played a lesser role to the 17-year-old, that she hadn’t known he had a hidden knife and had encouraged him to leave after he began brandishing it.
“This is a theft that got extremely out of hand,” she said.
Ms Briggs said the woman told her “this is the stupidest thing she’s ever done”.
Prosecutor Susie Kim noted how the woman had been on bail over unrelated charges at the time of the robbery and according to the authors of a pre-sentence report, she projected a level of blame on the civilians who became involved in the incident.
She also noted that although the woman’s role in the robbery was limited, she still accompanied and stayed with the 17-year-old even after the confrontation.
Chief Magistrate Lorraine Walker said while the woman had a criminal history, quite a number of people and organisations seemed to have belief in her capacity for change.
The chief magistrate said the woman may benefit from a deferred sentence, in which she would look for proactive drug and alcohol rehabilitation and mental health engagement.
Chief Magistrate Walker ultimately made a 12-month deferred sentence for the woman, which is a type of order that allows an offender the chance to address their behaviour before being formally sentenced.
The matter will return to court for a check-in later this year.
The 17-year-old boy legally cannot be named due to his age, while the 19-year-old woman isn’t named to avoid identifying him.
The boy faced the ACT Children’s Court for sentencing on Tuesday as well, but the magistrate reserved a decision in that case and will hand down the sentence in July.
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