TWO Ballarat men have been jailed for an armed robbery in which they pulled a knife on a 15-year-old girl working her first shift at a Sturt Street pharmacy.
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County Court Judge Bill Stuart on Wednesday said Craig Kemp, 42, and Brendan Collins, 21, had been in the initial stages of an "outrageous" crime spree when they robbed the Priceline Pharmacy about 6.30pm on December 1 last year.
Sentencing Kemp to five years' jail, with a non-parole period of three years, and Collins to 20-months' jail, Judge Stuart said the contempt showed for the young victim had been "astounding".
"You chose to turn to your 15-year-old victim and say, 'nice doing business with you'," Judge Stuart told Kemp.
WATCH THE VIDEO OF THE ROBBERY BELOW:
Referring to the young employee's victim impact statement, the judge said the girl now suffered from "massive fear", struggled to sleep, had nightmares, stress attacks, couldn't be alone, was distrustful of strangers and wary of customers.
"The events, as here, are terrifying experiences for the staff involved," Judge Stuart said.
"This night involved the two of you going on a rampage ... it is outrageous conduct.
"Members of the community are entitled to go about their ordinary business without expecting the two of you to approach and threaten them with a weapon."
The judge said Kemp's offending had been more brazen than Collins', considering he had been convicted for armed robbery in 2008 and had only been out of jail a short time before robbing Priceline last December.
Judge Stuart said the pair continued their crime spree after the armed robbery, burgling several local businesses and stealing alcohol from a local bottle shop and petrol from two service stations.
The pair was also sentenced for other unrelated crimes, with Collins pleading guilty to being in possession of property suspected of being the proceeds of crime and Kemp pleading guilty to a police pursuit which ended with him crashing into a fence.
Judge Stuart explained he sentenced Kemp according to his "appalling criminal history", adding Collins was still a young man with better prospects of rehabilitation.
He said Collins had played a "supportive role" in the armed robbery, while Kemp had "confronted and terrified" the victim.
Colllins was ordered to complete a four year community corrections order upon his release, with 174 days on remand counted as time already served.
The judge said if not for their guilty pleas, Collins and Kemp would have been jailed for four and seven years respectively.