A knife-wielding robber has been released from custody more than six months after he was met with a barrage of bread rolls when he held up a Canberra bakery.
Hieu Hoang Nguyen, 24, walked free from the ACT Supreme Court on Tuesday after Chief Justice Helen Murrell granted bail in order for him to be assessed for a drug and alcohol treatment order.
Such an order would be attached to a jail sentence, with any further period of imprisonment suspended.
The Evatt man pleaded guilty earlier this year to a charge of aggravated robbery, admitting he had stolen $360 from the till at La Florentina Bakery in November 2020.
Agreed facts tendered in court show Nguyen ordered a cake from the female attendant before brandishing a blade roughly 20 centimetres long in broad daylight and instructing her to open the cash register.
He climbed over the counter when the woman refused to comply, prompting the terrified worker to reach for a basket of bread rolls and begin launching them at the offender.
Nguyen withstood the barrage and took the cash from the till before leaving on foot.
The attendant alerted two Icon Water employees outside the bakery, and the pair chased Nguyen.
They cornered him and managed to retrieve the stolen money, but Nguyen eventually got away.
His freedom was short-lived, however, with police quickly linking him to the crime and arresting him just two days later.
Nguyen initially denied having been to the Evatt shops, where the bakery is located, at all on the day in question.
The 24-year-old student later changed his tune and pleaded guilty in February.
When Nguyen was granted bail on Tuesday, Chief Justice Murrell urged him not to waste the opportunity to complete the drug and alcohol sentencing list suitability assessment.
"If you would fully co-operate, that would be in your own best interests," she told him.
The judge said she would sentence Nguyen on July 16, indicating she would impose a treatment order if the man was found suitable.
The ACT Magistrates Court has previously heard Nguyen appeared to be offending to support an unaddressed drug problem.
