LAVINGTON woman Katrina Louise Foster was jailed yesterday over the attempted robbery of an Albury pharmacy last year.
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Foster's mother began screaming and crying and was escorted from the court by a sheriff’s officer after hearing her daughter would spend 19 months in jail for her part in a robbery bid where a blood-filled syringe was used.
Judge David Frearson described Foster, 29, as the joint instigator of the robbery, being complicit from the beginning with her de facto partner Samuel Richard Sammutt.
Foster drew a diagram of the pharmacy, where she had previously worked, for Sammut, who had his robbery attempt to get drugs thwarted by a customer on September 20 last year and was arrested soon after.
She appeared for sentence on a charge of being an accessory before the fact to assault with intent to rob when armed with an offensive weapon.
Sammutt, who has been in custody since his arrest, faced sentencing on a charge of being armed with an offensive weapon with intent to rob.
Judge Frearson described Sammutt’s decision to use a blood-filled syringe as a menacing choice and it was a particularly heinous offence.
A customer wrestled with Sammutt, managed to get a balaclava off his face and he escaped.
Sammutt lived about 500m from the pharmacy in Dean Street and police quickly arrested him.
“It is a tragedy to see a young man in court facing this type of charge,” Judge Frearson said.
“He has a substantial drug history starting from about 13 years of age.
“There was a certain level of planning. On any view, this was a serious crime.
“When I look for evidence of remorse, I don’t see any.”
Sammutt was jailed for 30 months with his earliest release being on June 19, 2012, with a further 28 months following on parole.
Judge Frearson said Foster had spent time in custody after the offence which she described as “horrible” before getting Supreme Court bail.
He said her knowledge of the premises was used in the plan.
“The fact is the crime was committed by the person best equipped to do it,” he said.
Judge Frearson said their motive was to feed their drugs habits and he did not accept that Foster’s moral culpability was reduced.
She was given a 19-month jail term expiring on September 12, 2011, with an additional 18 months on parole.
