By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A 32-year-old ice-addict who wielded either a machete or a knife during five armed robberies on “soft target venues” in Melbourne’s South-East has been jailed.
Steven Joshua McQueen pleaded guilty to the series of robberies and thefts over four days in March 2016.
McQueen’s targets were a Tooradin servo, an Upper Beaconsfield supermarket, general stores in Frankston South and Langwarrin and a Frankston milk bar, Victorian County Court judge Carolene Gwynn said in sentencing on 2 October.
He had been disguised in a raised hoodie, sunglasses and on one occasion a ‘Scream’ mask.
Before and amidst the robbery spree, he stole three sets of vehicle number plates, which he affixed to disguise his car and his partner’s car during the hold-ups, Judge Gwynn said.
The disguises, the choice of small-scale shop owners, the number plate thefts and forearming of weapons made the crimes “not entirely opportunistic”, she said.
“Your offending was brazen, aggressive and serious.”
The victims, who declined to provide impact statements, were no doubt terrified by McQueen, the judge said.
In one incident, a store attendant was observed cowering from a machete-wielding McQueen as he removed a cash register drawer from her store.
Judge Gwynn accepted McQueen, who had been in the throes of a severe meth addiction at the time of offending, had since shown genuine remorse.
McQueen relapsed into drug use and re-offended late last year after a positive start to a CISP bail program, the judge said. He is still to appear at a magistrates’ court on those offences.
Still in the early stages of recovery, he had returned clear urine screens for several months, she noted.
Given he had no criminal history, his age and his therapeutic supports, his prospects of rehabilitation were “good if not high”.
McQueen was convicted and jailed for up to five years and nine months, with a non-parole period of three years and four months.
