One of two men standing trial for a $124,000 gunpoint robbery has pleaded guilty on the third day of his hearing.
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But the man’s co-defendant, the security guard on shift on the night and the man accused of planning the robbery, has maintained his plea of not guilty.
Matthew Turner, 24, this morning pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery, money laundering and riding in a stolen car.
The pleas came part-way through his joint trial in the ACT Supreme Court.
Adam John Street, former security guard and trained soldier, is accused of aiding and abetting Turner and another man, Roland Chauveau, commit aggravated robbery.
Street’s trial is expected to resume on Monday morning, with Turner back in court this afternoon.
Two men wearing black balaclavas burst into the Weston Creek Labor Club at closing time on February 28, 2008 armed with a rifle and baseball bat.
The court has heard Street, 34, and two other staff members were tied up and left lying on the floor as the robbers made off with more than $124,000 in coins and notes.
The Crown had alleged the two men were Turner and Chauveau, who has pleaded guilty and been sentenced for his alleged role.
It is alleged the two stole the duty manager's car and fled the scene, dumping the vehicle in Canberra’s south.
In the week following the robbery, Turner spent more than $5000 in cash on furniture, a fridge, a freezer and a TV.
The items were seized from Turner’s home in June 2008, when police also found a baseball bat, a .22 shell casing and brown-paper coin wrappers marked with the Chubb security logo.
Former club manager Ian Johnson and then-duty manager Adam Bush told the jury the venue’s coin takings were usually wrapped in similar packages.
