Lewd snap gun holdup
Tradie admits to part in robbery
A GEELONG tradie has admitted robbing a man in Ocean Grove at gunpoint after the victim sent a photo of his penis to a woman via a dating app.
Christopher Tolj, 28, faced the County Court on Wednesday for a pre-sentence hearing after earlier pleading guilty to armed robbery.
The Wandana Heights man faces a mandatory jail term over a bizarre incident that took place in the early hours of May 3 last year.
Tolj was with an accomplice when he pointed a long-arm firearm at another man’s head and marched the victim to his home, where the scaffolder stole a $10 note and a phone.
Prosecutor Vivienne Jones said the robbery came after the victim had been lured from his home after an exchange on Skout, a social media dating app.
The 30-year-old victim had been communicating with Tolj’s friend, Danielle Misiti, and invited the woman
to his unit for a “puff session”.
The court heard Tolj took his friend’s phone and, pretending to be Misiti, suggested they should meet.
Ms Jones said the man responded by sending photos of his penis and a quantity of methamphetamine.
The court heard the photos enraged Tolj, who organised a meeting at the victim’s home, with the intention of scaring the man so he would stop contacting Misiti.
Tolj drove to Ocean Grove with three others, including Misiti and his co-offender Shaun Baensch.
Unable to find the man’s address, the group lured him to the car park of the Ocean Grove Hotel, where Tolj confronted him with a gun, while Baensch wielded a garden stake.
Tolj then taunted the victim while aiming the gun at the victim’s head.
“Do you like creeping out chicks online, do ya?” he said.
“I’ll f--king shoot ya. Do you think I won’t give a f--k?”
The victim was forcibly walked from the car park to his unit where Tolj swiped an iPhone, a small bag of methamphetamine and cash.
Tolj was arrested 10 days later and made partial admissions to the offending, but denied being armed with a gun.
His recent guilty plea came after his accomplice, Baensch, agreed to be a prosecution witness.
Defence barrister Penny Marcou said her client’s offending was unsophisticated.
“The intention was to go and scare the victim,” she said.
Tolj was taken into custody on Wednesday after his bail was revoked.
Judge Justin Hannebery will sentence Tolj on Friday.