An armed robber who targeted a bottle shop, held a knife to an Uber driver's throat, and later threatened to kill a resident was caught after being bitten by a dog and tackled by its owner.
In an ACT Supreme Court decision published in July, Isaac John Gordon was sentenced to four years and one month in jail for the three offences, with a non-parole period of just over two years.
He previously pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated robbery, and one count of recklessly threatening to kill another person.
The crime spree began on May 26, 2025, when Gordon entered a Cellarbrations bottle shop in Gungahlin.
Pulling a knife from his shorts, he demanded staff "open the till, open the till."
As one employee retreated to the office to warn a colleague that the man had a knife, the armed robber told the pair, "I'm not going to hurt you."
He then stole $190 and fled, telling the employees, "I'm desperate," "I can't pay my rent," and "I'm struggling."
CCTV footage later showed two $50 notes falling from his pocket as he ran from the store.
A week later, Gordon approached an Uber driver in Mitchell just after midnight, claiming his phone battery was flat and asking for a lift to Watson.
During the trip, he pressed a knife to the driver's throat and stomach, telling him, "I'll kill you, give me $50."
"[The victim] felt shocked and thought his life may be over," the published decision stated.
The driver was on the phone to his brother at the time, who overheard the threat and immediately called triple zero.
The victim suggested stopping at an ATM, where Gordon took his bank card, phone, and keys, and withdrew $200 cash. Gordon returned the items to the car, while the driver fled on foot.
Later that afternoon, Gordon was injecting heroin in the car park of a Watson apartment complex when residents confronted him.
One resident told him: "We live here, we've got kids here. We don't want people having shots in the carpark."
Gordon reacted by pulling out a kitchen knife, chasing the resident, and repeatedly threatening, "I am going to stab you" and "I'll f---ing kill you."
The resident escaped into his home but ran back outside when his American Staffordshire bull terrier escaped and tripped Gordon over. The dog bit Gordon, who lashed back at the animal with the knife.
The resident then tackled Gordon and wrestled the weapon away, suffering minor injuries in the process.
Police arrived at the apartment complex and arrested Gordon a short time later.
Justice Jon White said each of the victims in this matter felt a "justifiable sense of fear engendered by the violent actions" of Gordon.
Justice White noted the Uber driver, "operating as a driver alone late at night, was particularly vulnerable".
"The production of the knife, and the immediacy of the threats of violence must have been terrifying," he said.
Describing Gordon's response to the Watson resident as "wildly excessive," the judge called his crime spree "in many ways a tragic case."
He noted that Gordon had spent most of his adult life in jail, battled a complex and lengthy drug and mental health history, and become institutionalised.
He said the man had committed the final offence "hoping on his own account to be returned to prison" because he faced "great difficulty existing in the world outside."
