EAGER to make some quick cash to flee NSW and visit family in Mackay, Joel Christopher Redman embarked on a hapless four-day crime spree between Christmas and New Year, 2019. Armed first with a glock pistol, and then later that night with a sledge hammer, Redman, 23, made off with a grand total of $1.60, some lollies and Nutella when he targeted two service stations at Heatherbrae and Raymond Terrace.
He also torched a car in Raymond Terrace in the early hours of Christmas Day.
Redman appeared in Newcastle Local Court on Wednesday where he pleaded guilty to attempted armed robbery over the failed hold-up at Metro Petroleum at Heatherbrae on December 27. He will next appear in Newcastle District Court on April 30 to get a sentence date. Redman walked into the service station at Heatherbrae about 7.10pm and asked for a packet of cigarettes before allegedly threatening the male staff member with a firearm and demanding cash and cigarettes. Police said Redman jumped the counter before struggling with the staff member, who managed to escape the store.
The staff member then returned and the pair struggled again. Redman ran from the store, jumped on a bicycle and fled the scene without any cash.
Two days before the attempted armed robbery, Redman was in Adelaide Street at Raymond Terrace when he set fire to a piece of cloth and threw it into a car.
The fire completely destroyed the vehicle. Redman was spotted near the blaze a short time later and was spoken to by police but a witness could not be sure he was responsible.
In the early hours of December 28, Redman used a sledge hammer to smash a number of holes in the windows of a service station at Raymond Terrace and then reached into the store and stole a small jar of coins that contained $1.60, some lollies and Nutella.
He then fled to Queensland to avoid apprehension. He was arrested at a unit in Nolan Street, Sarina, south of Mackay, and extradited back to NSW.
Redman, who was on parole at the time of the crime spree, was jailed for six months in Raymond Terrace Local Court in March for setting fire to the car and breaking into the service station.
He will be eligible for parole in July, but will then be sentenced for the attempted armed robbery.
