A masked man accused of a gunpoint robbery at the Erindale ACTTAB has gone on trial in the ACT Supreme Court.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But the man, who cannot be named, is fighting the charges, saying he wasn't the robber pictured in CCTV footage, and that the witness who put him in the frame did so to escape prosecution himself for other crimes.
The robbery of the betting agency took place in late 2009, while customers were still in the store.
A masked man walked into the ACTTAB, wearing gloves, carrying a bag, and wielding a sawn-off gun.
He walked to the counter, threw the bag over the glass partition, and demanded it be filled with money.
The store's supervisor complied, filling it with tens of thousands of dollars in cash from two safes and a register.
The robber, whose head covering prevented identification, then fled with the money. The entire incident was captured on CCTV footage, and the supervisor said it lasted only three to four minutes.
The man on trial doesn't dispute that the robbery took place, but simply says he wasn't the culprit.
Police became suspicious of the accused after a friend gave evidence against him.
The friend told police the accused had confessed to him.
The accused was arrested in 2011, and police searched his southside home but did not find the gun.
The friend then tipped them off about the location of the weapon, saying it was stashed between a shed and the fence at the accused's home.
Police went back to the property and quickly found a gun.
In his opening address, defence barrister Shane Gill said the friend was himself facing prosecution for a string of crimes when he put the accused in the frame for the ACTTAB robbery.
Mr Gill said the evidence was the "price" for the prosecution dropping charges against him.
He told the jury the witness had vested interests, and questioned why the police couldn't find the gun on the first search, but found it easily on the second.
"When you see someone with a vested interest, that might give you cause for some serious concern, he said.
The Crown, represented by Mark Fernandez, called the ACTTAB supervisor to give evidence on Monday.
He spoke of having the masked man pointing the rifle at him as he put the cash in the bag, and said the robber had at one stage told a customer not to lie on the ground.
The supervisor said the robbery would have taken about three to four minutes, and Mr Fernandez asked:
"So things moved fairly quickly?"
He responded:
"They didn't feel like they moved quickly, but yes."
The jury trial continues on Tuesday before Justice Steven Rares.
