Two men who held up the Commonwealth Hotel, forcing the manager back inside at closing time and stealing $125,000 before their getaway driver chased down and nearly killed a cleaner, have been jailed in Newcastle District Court.
Machete-wielding armed robber John Jerrett, 37, and baseball-bat-carrying 32-year-old Marley Tiopira, on Wednesday received maximum sentences of more than seven years behind bars.
The pair had conducted "extensive surveillance and reconnaissance" of the hotel to familiarise themselves with the closing procedures.
They struck at 4am on February 28, 2024, appearing from behind a courtesy bus parked outside and forcing the gaming manager back inside.
"During the robbery, I was forced onto my knees, forced to open safes, kneed in the lower part of my neck and threatened with beheading," the gaming manager said during a victim impact statement.
"I have been impacted physically, psychologically and emotionally... and diagnosed with severe PTSD, severe anxiety and severe depression."
A cleaner who arrived for his usual shift unknowingly interrupted the robbery and was chased down and bashed by the getaway driver.
"I live with a sense of guilt in relation to [the cleaner]," the gaming manager said.
"I wish there was something I could have done so he wasn't impacted.
"Hearing him screaming for help and for the police still haunts me to this day."
The gaming manager said he now lived a life of constant anxiety, fear and hypervigilance.
"I have always taken pride in providing a safe environment for all staff and patrons," he said.
"I never thought that one day that same environment would not be safe for me."
In the face of DNA evidence, telephone intercepts and links to the car used to conduct the surveillance and flee the robbery, Jerrett and Tiopira had long denied being the men who appeared from the shadows outside the hotel in the early hours of February 28.
They also admitted to carjacking a man in the King Street McDonald's car park a few days before the Commonwealth Hotel robbery after prosecutors agreed to withdraw a charge of conspiring to rob another Hunter pub in early March 2024.
The Newcastle Herald has reported that it was just after 4am when two masked men stepped out from the shadows outside the Commonwealth Hotel.
The pair had been watching the pub for days and knew the closing procedures well.
And as the gaming manager locked up, they emerged from behind the pub's courtesy bus.
They chased the manager down, marched him back inside and forced him onto his knees.
Over the next 20 minutes, Jerrett and Tiopira threatened the manager and, with a knee pushed into his shoulder blade, taunted him.
The pair stole $125,000 in cash and when the cleaner arrived, he was chased down by the getaway driver waiting outside and struck in the head.
He suffered a cardiac arrest, full-thickness scalp lacerations and police did not detect signs of a heartbeat when they found him unconscious a short time later.
While he was being revived by police, the three armed robbers were fleeing in a Mercedes-Benz.
While the getaway driver remains unidentified, Jerrett and Tiopira on Wednesday learned their fate.
Jerrett was jailed for a maximum of seven years and four months, with a non-parole period of four years and four months.
Tiopira was jailed for a maximum of seven years and three months, with a non-parole period of four years and three months.
With time served, Jerrett will be out of jail in October 2028 and Tiopira will be eligible for release in February 2029.
Both men had endured deprived upbringings and had drug addictions, with defence barrister Rob Hussey arguing Jerrett had been predisposed to stealing and "doing what he could to survive" from a young age.
