It wasn’t me: armed robber

Bandit and her sidekick appeal convictions before highest court

A LOOSE-lipped robber and her sidekick who declared his innocence have had bids for freedom shot down.

Carlos Clinton Booth and Leniece Leigh Combarngo were jailed for armed robbery last year, along with their associate Jake Aaron Hearn.

Hearn did not bother appealing, but the others tried their luck with the state’s highest court.

Both told Queensland Court of Appeal they should not have been convicted.

Booth’s barrister Lincoln Crowley said there was “a reasonable possibility” his client was not even one of the robbers.

The bandits burst into a Gowrie Junction convenience store in August 2015.

Security camera footage showed men with faces covered.

Combarngo’s barrister Andrew Hoare raised issues including how the sentencing judge directed jurors about a cut-down gun Combarngo was accused of being involved with.

But in a decision published on Friday, Justice James Douglas said Combarngo’s phone conversations were problematic for her.

Combarngo was recorded after the robbery, and when told cops seized clothing connected to a stick-up, she replied: “Yes I know”.

She also said “What the f--is going on … they found the gun barrel out there.”

Meanwhile, Mr Crowley said CCTV footage was too murky to properly identify anyone.

Justice Douglas said a similar hoodie was found in Combarngo’s belongings after the robbery.

Also, shoe prints at the scene were similar to those from shoes seized from Booth.

He said that and other circumstantial evidence combined to build “a very strong case” against Booth.

The appeal court dismissed both appeals.

In August, Booth and Combarngo were sentenced in Brisbane District Court.

“You are clearly a menace to society,” Judge Richard Jones told Booth, then 29.

Booth was jailed for six years but eligible for parole after three.

Combarngo, in her mid-30s, is eligible for parole in November.