Andrew Whitfield, 32, hides his face from the media as he approaches the ACT Courts for his trial. Photo: Albert McKnight.
A mohawk-sporting patron of the Old Canberra Inn, described to have been “gurning” when he was seen by staff, has been found guilty of returning to the historic building and stealing $20,000 in a knife-point robbery.
A judge-alone trial began in the ACT Supreme Court against 32-year-old Andrew Whitfield earlier this year, in which he fought charges of robbery and burglary.
The court heard the issue at trial was the identity of the robber, but Acting Justice Patricia Kelly announced she was in no doubt the robber was Whitfield and found him guilty of both charges.
“My conclusion after considering the whole of the evidence in this matter is that it is plainly obvious that the robber is the accused,” she wrote in her decision on 18 September.
“There is no other available inference on the evidence.”
The trial heard that Whitfield and his friend went into the Lyneham pub on the night of 29 June 2024 and ordered food and drinks.
Whitfield was drinking a bottle of Great Northern beer he’d brought in himself when he arrived, so he was told to throw it out.
A staff member later told the trial he sounded intoxicated, was slurring his words and “looked like he was gurning a little bit”.
‘Gurning’ is when a person clenches and moves their jaw, and can be seen when a person is under the influence of drugs.
The pub closed by midnight, and the last three staff members sat around inside to have a drink. When one of them got up to go back to the bar, he encountered a man wearing a balaclava.
At first, this staff member thought he was a member of the kitchen staff, as he knew they occasionally wore balaclavas when they cycled home, and jokingly told the man, “You look like a robber”.
But the staff member then noticed the man was carrying a knife and the latter allegedly told him, “Show me where the money is or I’ll kill you”.
The robber took the three staff members into an office while making various threats and stole about $20,000 in cash before leaving. One staff member later described him as having “meth-head eyes”.
Whitfield was arrested later that same day, 30 June, but police did not find the cash or the knife when they searched him.
The robbery took place at the Old Canberra Inn in the early hours of 30 June 2024. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
The prosecution presented a circumstantial case to prove that he was the robber at trial and relied on the testimony of two staff members present during the robbery.
These two claimed to identify him by his appearance, the timbre of his voice and his clothing.
Defence barrister Skye Jerome tried to point out issues with their evidence, arguing these two didn’t know her client beforehand, only had limited opportunities to watch him while they were working earlier in the night, and he only spoke one or two sentences in their presence.
She also said it had been an extremely frightening encounter, and both staff members were shocked and frightened.
But Acting Justice Kelly said Whitfield immediately attracted the attention of staff when he entered the pub with his friend that night, not just because of his appearance, but because he arrived with prohibited alcohol. This meant they had to keep him under discreet surveillance.
“While the events that night all occurred within a short space of time, the identification of the robber as the accused by both witnesses was an instantaneous reaction by both of them, and was within seconds of the robber’s departure,” she said.
“They exclaimed to each other words to the effect that he was the ‘mohawk man’.”
She was impressed by the evidence of both staff members.
“Even though they were both in a very high-pressure environment in the presence of the robber during the robbery, who was wielding a knife and repeatedly threatening them over a period of 10 minutes, their simultaneous exclamations to each other that they recognised the robber as the man with the mohawk who had been in the hotel earlier, are cogent,” Acting Justice Kelly said.
The matter returns to court on 4 December.
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