A MAN who held up a Bathurst pharmacist at knifepoint to feed his drug addiction will spend at least 21 months in jail.
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Lawrence Trindall, 26, was sentenced in the Bathurst District Court before Judge O’Connor on Thursday on charges of armed robbery and larceny.
He was handed a three-year jail term, with a non-parole period of one year and nine months.
Trindall held up a pharmacist at Blooms Chemist in the Bathurst Chase earlier this year, holding a knife to her side as he demanded drugs from the safe.
He gave evidence at the sentencing that at the time of the armed robbery, he was fresh out of jail, homeless and intoxicated on drugs.
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He had been released from Parklea Correctional Centre into the care of his grandmother who, unknown to him, had been placed in care.
He went to her house to find it locked up and empty.
Trindall said he turned to harder drugs to handle the stress.
“I went into a bad depression, I wanted to kill myself. I just couldn’t cope when I got out, no one was helping me,” he said.
“I was trying to get drugs.”
When asked what was going through his mind he said: “I didn’t want to deal with anything. I just wanted to go back to jail.”
Trindall said now that he was back in custody he wanted to go to rehabilitation.
“I want the system to help me,” he said, adding he was sorry for what happened.
“I’m sorry for what I done. I know they would have been scared, it shouldn’t have happened.”
“I take responsibility for what I did. I pleaded guilty straight away, the police came to my house and I pleaded guilty that night.”
Trindall said he now wants to learn some life skills before he gets released back into the community so next time “he copes better.”
Trindall’s lawyer, Mr Cranney, submitted to the court the robbery lacked sophistication and planning and fell into the higher end of the low range of objective seriousness.
The Crown disagreed saying it was in the mid range, and while it had guarded prospects of Trindall’s rehabilitation, said it needed to be considered or Trindall’s offending behaviour would continue.
Judge O’Connor sentenced him to three years’ jail backdated to June 26, 2018, with a non parole period of one year and nine months. Trindall will be eligible for release on March 25, 2020.
It was also recommended the offender be considered for an intensive drug and alcohol treatment program.
The larceny matter was dealt with by Section 10A.
