Raids on chemists alarming—Judge

Press, 2 June 1984, Page 4

Raids on chemists alarming —Judge

Armed holdups of chemist shops were becoming an almost daily occurrence and were of great concern to the public and particularly to chemists, Mr Justice Roper said in the High Court yesterday. His Honour jailed Richard David Bradley, aged 19, a factory worker, for three years on charges of aggravated robbery and unlawfully taking a Holden utility truck. Evidence was given at Bradley’s trial that two masked men, one of whom was armed with a sawn-off shotgun, held up Andrew Anthony Godding in his Normans Road pharmacy on the morning of January 23. After tying and gagging Mr Godding the two robbers

fled with drugs, cash and cheques to the value of 51950 in a converted Holden utility truck just as the police arrived on the scene. There was a chase through nearby streets and the truck was cornered after being driven into Brookside Terrace. Malcolm Robertson Hurst, who was earlier sentenced to four years jail, lept from the vehicle and was pursued by a detective. Hurst was carrying a bag containing the drugs and most of the money and a shotgun. Bradley drove the utility into a driveway of a house and ran through a number of properties chased by two uniformed constables but he managed to give them the slip. He was arrested later.

When called to give evidence at Bradley’s trial Hurst refused to say anything. Mr S. C. Barker, for Bradley, said that although his client had convictions, there were none for burglary or for offences involving firearms. His list was far less than that of his co-offender, Hurst, who was the ringleader of the venture and had the shotgun. Bradley had robbed a pharmacy, a class of criminal activity which was almost a daily occurrence and was of real concern to the public and, of course, to the chemists, said his Honour. Drugs and money were stolen but were later recovered. His companion had a

loaded sawn-off shotgun and in the shop Bradley armed himself with a baseball bat which belonged to the chemist. “It is very unfortunate seeing you before the Court because the probation officer had high hopes for you, but you failed miserably,” his Honour said. Bradley had previous convictions but none of a particularly serious nature and certainly none for this type of offending. Prison was inevitable but he was satisfied that he could distinguish between Bradley and Hurst, who was sentenced to four years imprisonment, both as to previous criminal activity and involvement in this offence, his Honour said.