Tea towel thief dishes up identity

AN ALLEGED bandit’s efforts to disguise himself during a robbery on the Gold Coast appear to have fallen well short of the mark, with his face left in full view of the cameras.

The man donned bright blue gloves and draped a teatowel over his head, which was firmly held in place by a cap, as he allegedly confronted two chemist employees at Oxenford on Thursday night. Police say he threatened two female employees, demanding drugs about 10pm at the business on Leo Graham Way.

As one employee called the police, the man allegedly jumped the counter and stole packets of medication off the shelf before fleeing on foot.

He is described as caucasian with a solid build. He was wearing a towel on his head, a brown cap, brown long sleeve top and black, red and white board shorts, white runners and green cotton gloves.

A JEALOUS removalist made “disturbed” phone calls to his girlfriend when she was drinking with her brother, before coming to his Palm Beach home and starting a brawl.

The fight left a man with a broken jaw in two places.

Ashley Richards’ attack was described in the Southport District Court as “not completely out of the blue”.

Judge David Kent said: “It was the punctuation mark after hours of disturbed phone calls where you were pursuing your girlfriend and others throughout the evening.”

The 26-year-old pleaded guilty on Friday to one count of grievous bodily harm.

Judge Kent sentenced him to two years’ prison, to be released on parole on June 17.

Richards was also given until February 2022 to pay the victim $15,000 in compensation.

“We can’t have people attacking people and breaking their jaw,” he said.

The court was told Richards’ girlfriend had gone drinking with her brother and his best friend on August 4, 2018.

Throughout the night Richards repeatedly called the woman in fits of jealousy.

About 2am on August 5, 2018 the woman’s brother took the phone off the woman and had a verbal argument with Richards.

During that argument he let slip where they were.

The court was told Richards and a friend arrived at the Palm Beach home and started a fight with the woman’s brother.

The other man in the woman’s group tried to calm the fight down. That was when he was struck in the face, breaking his jaw in two places.

Since the incident the man has had two surgeries and may need to undergo the knife a third time.

The court was told it could not be determined if it was Richards or Richards’ friend who hit the man.

Defence barrister Alastair McDougall, instructed by Jason Grant Lawyers, said Richards had a drug problem.

He said that at the time of the incident Richards was grieving the loss of his daughter a few months earlier.

Mr McDougall said since the fight Richards had undergone anger management counselling.