By Goya Dmytryshchak
A man who robbed Altona North McDonald’s and a Premix King bottle shop at Williamstown has been sentenced to four and a half years jail.
Taylar Rough pleaded guilty in the County Court to two charges of armed robbery and theft.
His former partner was handed a community corrections order for assisting him after police bugged their Newport home.
The court heard that Rough and an accomplice used an imitation handgun and knife to rob the McDonald’s restaurant about 1.45am on November, 26, 2017.
About four weeks later, Rough and the same co-offender used his then-partner, Carmyn Bills’ car to rob the Williamstown bottle shop.
Rough was carrying an imitation firearm and his accomplice had a sawn-off shotgun.
After the robberies, police placed a listening device in the home Rough shared with Bills.
Police attended their home last May and made inquiries about the whereabouts of Bills’ car on the nights of the robberies.
The court heard that after police left, Bills was recorded telling Rough they needed to destroy any evidence.
Bills told Rough to delete everything on his phone and dispose of a bag of shoes and clothing.
Judge Carolene Gwynn sentenced Rough to four and half years imprisonment with a minimum of two years and 10 months.
She placed Bills on a community corrections order for 16 months. No conviction was recorded for Bills. The co-offender, then 17, has been dealt with by a children’s court.
