Long arm of the paw
Bumbling thief caught after fleeing dog park
WALKIES became runnies when Kayne Robert Selfe thought police had caught up with him at a Gold Coast dog park in November 2015.
The 26-year-old had been involved in the armed robbery of a Brisbane pub months earlier when more than $50,000 was stolen.
From the Hope Island dog park he spotted a helicopter, which he believed was PolAir, and made a run for it, scooping his staffie pup up under his arm and jumping into his rental car.
Although Selfe was not the original target of the police helicopter, the chase was now on.
He was spotted driving erratically soon after on the M1 at Reedy Creek.
He failed to stop for police but was then tracked by helicopter while exiting onto the Gold Coast Hwy.
Reaching speeds of up to 180km/h during the pursuit, his vehicle collided with another car. When Selfe’s vehicle punctured a tyre, he got out with a knife and the dog in his arms and tried to steal another vehicle at the Gold Coast Airport, but the intended victim simply reversed and drove away, barrister Jason Buckland told the Supreme Court in Brisbane on Wednesday.
Next, the 26-year-old ran to a nearby office, knocked on a security door and told the woman at the counter: “I’ve got a knife, open up or I’ll kill you.’’
Unperturbed, she the glass window.
Selfe then ran to an adjoining property where he stashed the knife and broke through a window before threatening an elderly man, who said the car in his back yard was broken down.
When Selfe climbed back out the window, police were waiting for him.
The court was told Selfe had committed the armed robbery with another person who held a rifle to the head of the manager of the Alexandra closed Hills Hotel in Brisbane in August 2015. The pair had fled with $54,746.
On Wednesday, Selfe pleaded guilty to a string of offences including armed robbery in company, attempted robbery and dangerous operation of a vehicle.
He was sentenced yesterday to nine years and four months in jail but will be eligible for parole in January 2020 after having served 688 days on remand.
Selfe’s lawyer, Tyler Smith of Buckland Allen Criminal Lawyers, said the sentence was “firm but fair”.
“It gives him the opportunity to re-enter the community if he can demonstrate that he is rehabilitated,” he said.