Ice addict jailed for robbery

AN ice-addicted armed robber who held up a Hobart pub to get money to buy drugs will spend the next three years in jail.

Jesse Fletcher-Jones, 19, was sentenced after pleading guilty in the Hobart Supreme Court to armed robbery. Police had identified Fletcher-Jones from DNA obtained from the sunglasses he dropped while committing the robbery in September last year.

The court heard FletcherJones stole a station wagon, drove to a petrol station and stole some fuel before arriving at the Elwick Hotel in Glenorchy where he pointed a gun at the cashier in the pub’s gaming room and demanded money. The car was later burnt at an address in Chigwell.

The court heard FletcherJones fired a shot while the manager was filling up a bag with about $2500.

There were two patrons in the gaming room at the time.

“The crime of armed robbery, particularly when carried out with a loaded weapon which is discharged during the course of the robbery, is a very serious one,” Acting Justice Shane Marshall said.

“It is relevant that there was a degree of planning involved in the crime. It is also relevant that the purpose of the robbery was to buy drugs and you subsequently spent the money that way.

“Your desperation for money is no excuse for your conduct which was a planned violent act for selfish ends.”

Fletcher-Jones was sentenced to three years in prison and will not be eligible for parole before serving two years of that sentence.