TWO teenagers - including a 13-year-old girl - have pleaded guilty to using a knife to hold-up a Rutherford service station on Sunday night before the teenage girl threatened a female customer and demanded cash and cigarettes.
The pair, a 15-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl who cannot be identified, appeared in Broadmeadow Children's Court on Monday and pleaded guilty to armed robbery. The girl also pleaded guilty to a charge of demanding property with menaces with intent to steal.
The two teenagers did not apply for bail and Magistrate Justin Peach ordered a full background report from the Newcastle Juvenile Justice Office before the matters returned to Broadmeadow Children's Court on July 26.
Police said a 26-year-old male employee and a 32-year-old female customer were inside a service station on the New England Highway at Rutherford about 10.30pm on Sunday when two people entered the store.
Police said the 15-year-old boy threatened the employee with a knife and demanded cash and cigarettes, while the 13-year-old girl threatened the customer, also demanding money and cigarettes.
The teenagers then fled the store on foot as the police were being called.
Police responding to the armed hold-up spotted a male and female crossing the highway and attempted to stop the pair.
Both teenagers fled from the officers, who gave chase on foot before the pair were arrested on nearby Queen Street.
The terrifying hold-up is the latest armed robbery in Rutherford this year and another example of a violent confrontation involving juvenile offenders.
In February, a 15-year-old boy was charged after allegedly using a knife to rob a man in a Rutherford car park.
Police said officers were called about 10.10pm on January 24 to the Arthur Street car park following reports of an armed robbery.
A man, 37, sitting in his car was allegedly approached by the teenager, who produced a knife, threatened him and ordered him to hand over his wallet. The man threw his wallet to the ground and the teenager picked it up and ran from the scene.
