Ice addict’s hold-up spree

AN ice-addicted armed robber used a fake gun to hold up three teenagers at Eastern Beach pool and a knife to steal from a woman at a Belmont bus stop.

Brayden Kennedy committed the crimes on the Mother’s Day weekend last year, aged 19.

Now 20, he pleaded guilty to three counts of armed robbery in Geelong County Court yesterday, and an ammunition charge, and will be sentenced in Melbourne next month.

Defence lawyer Michael Brugman said a lifetime of being bullied had turned Kennedy into a bully on May 13, when he carried out the first robbery after a number of sleepless nights high on ice.

Three younger teenagers were at the Eastern Beach baths late at night, when the defendant approached. Kennedy pointed a realistic imitation revolver at the boys and demanded their keys and wallets.

He stole from two of the teenagers, and ran off before committing the next holdup at a bus stop on High St, Belmont the next morning.

The female victim had a knife pointed in her face, and was forced to give up her handbag, purse, phone, knitting bag, and Mother’s Day presents, including a box of chocolates and pair of pyjamas. In her victim impact statement, the woman told court she’d had nightmares since the ordeal, compounding her anxiety and depression.

“I find it hard to trust people I don’t know, and I am in fear when people come towards me,” she said.

Police arrested Kennedy in his car in Corio less than 90 minutes after the woman was robbed, and found he had items from both robberies in the vehicle.

Told of the woman’s trauma by police, Kennedy said “I feel like the biggest dog”.

The court heard the crime was far more serious than any of his previous offences, and came just days after the defendant lost a close cousin to a drug overdose.

Kennedy will be assessed for youth detention before sentencing on March 5.