A TEENAGER described as the “primary instigator” in an armed robbery of two men while she was armed with a knife has been sentenced to a term of detention at a youth justice centre.
The County Court of Victoria was told the two victims were living at a shared property in Robinvale in the early hours of February 11 last year when 19-year-old Olivia Baxter sent one of the men a text message requesting cigarettes.
About 6.30am, Baxter sent the man a further text message to advise of her arrival, prompting the man to unlock the front door.
He then saw Baxter sitting on the porch.
He told Baxter he would return, but when he went to his bedroom he found her and three co-accused standing in the room.
Baxter took a cigarette from a bedside table and began smoking it, picked up the man’s iPhone and asked for the passcode, which he refused.
Baxter became angry and repeatedly demanded the passcode before she took out a kitchen knife hidden in her pants and held it to the left side of the victim’s neck.
The man leaned back in an effort to distance himself from the knife, however Baxter followed and climbed on top of the man with the knife still held against his neck.
A co-accused then removed a machete from his waistband and told the victim to do what Baxter asked before he struck the man to the leg with the back of the machete, while another man struck him to the head and body with a chain wrapped around his hand.
After going through the victim’s phone, Baxter opened his banking app and coerced the man to access his phone banking against his wishes using fingerprint verification.
Baxter began asking the man where his money was before the four accused began searching through the room and taking possessions from both victims, including $300 cash, two backpacks, clothing, a PlayStation 3, an iPhone, speaker, two pairs of sneakers and a pair of sunglasses.
All four then left the property but were found by police at a Robinvale property as they sat around a table under a carport.
Baxter initially denied being present at the time of the offending and later admitted a diminished role as a bystander before pleading guilty to two counts of armed robbery.
County Court Judge David Sexton said Baxter’s actions in wielding the knife and holding it to the neck of one of the victims highlighted the seriousness of the armed robbery.
“It must surely have increased the level of apprehension and fear on the part of your victims and made them fear for their lives,” he said.
“Your conduct during the commission of these armed robberies was extremely concerning; your victims would have been absolutely terrified.
“You engaged in behaviour that could only be described as violent and disturbing.”
Judge Sexton said the victims were “very much” unsuspecting as entry to the property was gained under false pretences.
The court heard Baxter left school halfway through Year 8 and was a long-time user of cannabis and methamphetamine to escape life traumas.
The court was told that despite being referred to support services she had failed to engage, which Judge Sexton said was “troubling, to say the least”.
Baxter was sentenced to 16 months’ imprisonment each on two counts of armed robbery, to be served concurrently at a youth justice centre.
“This is not a sentence that I have imposed lightly,” Judge Sexton said.
“In fact, it gives me a considerable degree of sadness to impose the sentence that I just have imposed.”
The judge said Baxter may become eligible for youth parole “within a matter of a short few months”.
