A man who used a replica pistol to rob a Newcastle bottle shop in broad daylight - and did not try to hide his face despite a legal COVID-19 mask mandate at the time - has been sentenced to a maximum of two years and seven months in jail.
Shaquille Desouza, 24, faced Newcastle District Court on Monday via video link from Kempsey jail over the heist which took place just before 5pm on September 16, 2021.
The court heard that Desouza was less than three months into an Intensive Correction Order issued by the court - in lieu of sentence of full-time custody - for a previous robbery when he used a replica pistol to hold-up the BWS store inside the Jesmond shopping centre on Blue Gum Road.
Desouza walked into the store and threatened a male service attendant, as one of the man's colleagues and a customer stood witness.
The court heard that Desouza pointed the fake gun at the man's chest on four occasions, swore at him and demanded cash from the register.
Desouza took the man's backpack and put $300 cash and three bottles of bourbon inside it before he walked from the store.
A witness followed him and called police as Desouza walked straight from the crime scene to the property where he was staying on Heaton Street - only a few hundred metres down the road. He was soon arrested in the front yard.
In court on Monday, Judge Peter Whitford, SC, said the hold-up appeared to have little to no planning.
He said Desouza was intoxicated at the time and he made no effort to disguise himself or cover his face - despite it being a legal requirement at the time to wear a face mask in shops because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Judge Whitford said it was "plainly serious offending" despite the fact there was no physical violence.
He said the fake gun was not capable of firing any projectiles but "the victim would not have known it was a replica pistol and it must have been absolutely terrifying to be confronted with an item of that kind".
Desouza was handed an 18-month non-parole period backdated to January 2022, to account for time he has already spent in custody.
