A knife-wielding man who robbed a bakery of cash while being pelted with bread rolls by a terrified worker has been handed a "significant sentence".
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Hieu Hoang Nguyen, 24, fronted the ACT Supreme Court on Friday when he was sentenced to a fully suspended jail term of 13 months and two weeks, starting July 16.
The Evatt man pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of aggravated robbery in relation to stealing $360 from La Florentina Bakery in November 2020.
Agreed facts tendered in court showed Nguyen ordered a cake from the female attendant before brandishing a blade roughly 20cm long in broad daylight and instructing her to open the cash register.
He climbed over the counter when the woman refused to comply, holding the knife towards towards the terrified worker, prompting her to reach for a basket of bread rolls and begin launching them at the offender.
When he opened the till, the woman, who had previous interactions with him, told him to stop and said: "If you stop and go away, I won't call the police or tell anyone."
MORE NEWS
However, Nguyen - wearing a hooded jumper, black glove on his left hand and a blue face mask - withstood the barrage and took the cash from the till before leaving on foot.
The attendant alerted two men outside the bakery, who then chased Nguyen.
They cornered him and retrieved the stolen money in which the offender told them he was "doing it tough".
His freedom was short-lived, however, with police quickly linking him to the crime, helped by CCTV, and arresting him two days later at his home.
That same day during a police interview, he said he had not been at the Evatt shops, where the bakery is located, at all on the day of the offence.
Nguyen, who is a student, pleaded guilty in February on the fourth occasion his matter was mentioned in court after a brief of evidence was served on his defence lawyers.
As part of the sentence, he was ordered to undergo a drug and alcohol treatment program, which can have different directions imposed from time to time.
In her sentencing remarks, Chief Justice Helen Murrell urged the offender to be "a lot more punctual" in meeting his sentence orders because he had been late to attend previous appointments as part of legal proceedings.
"The point of this order is that it's extremely strict and you'll have to be on time," Justice Murrell said.
"This sentence is quite a significant sentence of imprisonment and it has a lot of obligations, so you need to meet those obligations, including being punctual.
"That's just a sign of respect as well for all these people who are trying to assist you."
The maximum penalty for the offence is a $400,000 fine, 25 years jail, or both.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark canberratimes.com.au
- Download our app
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram