Teen in jail for toy gun hold-up

Bundaberg Court House.

Mike Knott

A BUNDABERG teenager has been released on a suspended jail term for holding up a convenience store with a fake gun - but not before spending more than three months in custody for the sake of a pack of cigarettes.

David Jesse Evans, 19, walked into the Night Owl Convenience Store on Bourbong St about 7am on December 23, 2010, where he held a fake gun to a 61-year-old cashier's face.

Prosecutor Julie Aylward yesterday told Bundaberg District Court that Evans entered the store with his hand and the fake weapon behind his back before shoving it in the man's face and demanding a pack of cigarettes.

"The complainant handed them over," Ms Aylward said.

Evans then fled the store, but was not on the run for long after police recognised him in CCTV footage.

"They located the defendant sitting in a gutter outside his parent's house," Ms Aylward said.

In his bedroom, officers found the cap gun used in the hold-up and a bong that smelled of marijuana.

Defence barrister Kim Bryson said her client had mental health problems and, because of that, he never used drugs.

She said Evan used the bong found in his room to smoke tobacco, but he knew his housemates had used it to smoke marijuana.

"He knows the consequences of engaging in such substances could be catastrophic, given his mental state," she said.

Evans pleaded guilty to one count of armed robbery and one of possessing drug utensils.

"(The robbery) was clearly impulsive. There was no attempt by him to conceal his identity," Ms Bryson said.

For the robbery, Judge David Reid sentenced Evans to two years jail, immediately suspended for three years, taking into account 103 days he spent in custody following the robbery.

Evans was also sentenced to two years probation for possessing the bong.