AN ARMED robbery victim has recalled the moment a group of women formed a barricade around a young child to protect her from a gunman intent on holding up the Black Hill Post Office two years ago.
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Black Hill Post Office owner Troy Cheesman said the group of women, including the little girl's mother, were "willing to die" to protect the child from convicted armed robber Brett Patrick Cummins, who was sentenced for the crime on Thursday.
"... I still remember, and I guess it's the most emotional thing, is the little girl who was in the shop at the time," Mr Cheesman said.
Mr Cheesman recalled how the women formed the barricade around the child, protecting her from Cummins.
"They were willing to die for that kid," Mr Cheesman said.
"There was a dirty criminal piece of crap and to see all of these women protect that child from him was one of the best things I've ever seen."
Having a shotgun shoved in your face by an irrational masked robber intent on scoring money for drugs is the stuff of nightmares.
But for Mr Cheesman that nightmare became a vivid reality on February 26, 2013, when notorious Ballarat criminal Cummins entered his store.
In that moment, Mr Cheesman's life changed forever.
A large-scale heroin, ice and cannabis dealer who had already done two stints in prison for armed robbery, Cummins knew better than most how to roll a local shop, an easy target in his books.
"It's something I will never forget," Mr Cheesman said on Thursday after learning Cummins had been sentenced to more than three years' jail.
"He pointed it (a sawn-off shotgun) right in my face and told me it was fully loaded and he told me he wasn't afraid to use it either.
"But we did what he said and thankfully, just thank god, he didn't hurt anyone."
Ironically, Mr Cheesman, who had only purchased the business a few months before the robbery, had recently been trained on how to deal with such an event.
"I was told to just do what they ask and that's what we did," he said.
Cummins, who until Thursday had served 495 days on remand, will be free in less than two years, with the remand period counted as part of his sentence.
Reluctant to comment on the judicial system and sentencing, Mr Cheesman said it was a relief to know Cummins was at least behind bars.
"I would have been happier with more, but he's got something," he said.
"As I said before, I'm just glad no one was hurt.
"And I hope I never have to see him again."
