A key witness has denied he falsely implicated a friend in the gunpoint robbery of the Erindale ACTTAB to protect himself from eight years behind bars over other crimes.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The man has also rejected claims he planted a gun in his friend's backyard and tipped off the police to "sweeten the deal" that saw him indemnified from prosecution.
The witness was giving evidence in the ACT Supreme Court trial of a Canberra man, who cannot be named, over the holding up of the betting agency in late 2009.
Tens of thousands of dollars in cash was taken during the heist.
The accused is said to have walked into the store with his head covered by a beanie and scarf, wearing gloves, and holding a bag and a sawn-off rifle.
Customers were in the store at the time, and the accused allegedly told one not to lie down during the robbery.
He is said to have pointed the weapon at the store supervisor, throwing the bag over a glass partition, and demanding it be filled with cash.
The staff member complied, filling the bag with money from two safes and a register.
The robber then left the store.
He wasn't arrested until 2011, after a friend tipped off police.
That friend began giving evidence in the ACT Supreme Court on Tuesday, speaking of a conversation he said he'd had with the accused some time in 2010.
"He told me he robbed the place," he said.
"He told me that he went inside and there was a person there who was behind the counter and he either went around or jumped over the counter to be next to him."
He said the accused told him he took about $50,000.
The friend also said he had seen the bag used in the robbery in the accused's possession, and said he knew the gun had been hidden in his backyard, between a shed and a fence.
Defence barrister Shane Gill, in his opening address, warned the jury the witness had vested interests.
He said his evidence condemning his friend was the "price" for him escaping prosecution for other crimes.
In cross-examination, Mr Gill said the only details the witness had given to police were those that he could have gleaned from his own robbery of the same ACTTAB.
The witness agreed with Mr Gill that the deal with police was "incredibly important" and saved him from "flushing your life down the drain". He agreed that, if he had not given evidence against the accused, he would likely face eight to 12 years in prison.
Mr Gill asked:
"And if it involved a bit of fiction, well that was just the price. Correct?"
The witness said:
"No."
Mr Gill also accused him of planting the gun in the accused's backyard.
"Did you put the gun in the back there and then tell the police where it was to sweeten the deal and get the indemnity?"
The witness answered that he had not.
He agreed that if he did not stick to what he first told police in 2011 during the trial, the indemnity deal was off and he could still be prosecuted.
The trial continues before Justice Steven Rares on Wednesday.
