A DOPE-ADDICTED dad who took his 14-year-old son on a violent crime spree to fuel his habits has been jailed for seven years and six months.
The 37-year-old father of seven children told Newcastle District Court on Monday he had been drunk every day for the three years leading up to his offences.
He was drinking $100 worth of spirits per day and smoking $500 worth of cannabis per week. The only money he was earning was a carer's allowance he received in relation to his son who has ADHD and learning difficulties, he said giving evidence at his sentence hearing on Monday.
"I was just on a carousel," he said. "All my money went to drugs ... we were always out of money because of it."
The Medowie man, who cannot be named because his co-offenders, including his son, were juveniles, said he was hoping to be released to help his son get his life back on track.
The crime spree involved a string of armed robberies which began on May 22, 2020, when together with his son and another boy, aged 15, he broke into the Richie's Supa IGA plus Liquor store at Elermore Vale and stole bottles of alcohol. The trio still had black face coverings and gloves on when, half an hour later, they went to a service station at Sandgate.
The man stood outside while the two boys, now armed with a sword and a metal baseball bat, threatened staff and demanded cash.
They smashed things and jumped the counter, stealing $1200. Four nights later, the father and son held-up another service station at Williamtown. This time the father went inside and stood guard over a terrified staff member, repeatedly hitting him in the shoulder with a bat and saying: "Give me the money. Give me the money".
When a customer walked in, the father chased him around with the bat, yelling "I'm going to f---ing shoot you" before the father and son fled with more than $1000.
They later tried to break into the BWS at Medowie on June 10 and 16, but were unsuccessful.
The man, who pleaded guilty to five offences, was on a community corrections order for a separate offence at the time, the court heard.
Judge Tim Gartelmann sentenced him to seven years and six months in prison dating from his arrest on July 28, 2020, with a non-parole period of five years, making him eligible for release on parole on July 27, 2025.
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