A cross-dressing man robbed a McDonald's restaurant using a make-up canister he claimed was an explosive device, a court has been told.
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Leon Evangelistis, 48, wore a ginger wig, pink shawl, black fishnet stockings and skirt and heels. He approached the counter at the Laverton North restaurant on February 8, when the assistant manager saw something in a cup, the County Court heard on Monday.
"I have got something in the cup that I could detonate. You need to open up the till and give me money," Evangelistis told the woman.
After he walked around the counter, the robber said: "I will hurt you if you don't do what I say. Open the till. No one needs to get hurt. Just open the till."
Evangelistis, who was under the effects of the drugs ice and Xanax, took $200 when the cash register was opened and fled on foot, even though he had ridden a bicycle there, the court heard.
The father of five pleaded guilty to armed robbery and counts of attempted theft and possessing a drug of dependence. The latter charges related to his attempts to steal a bicycle at Werribee train station 13 days after the robbery.
Evangelistis told police the object he claimed was an explosive device was actually a make-up canister, the court heard.
Defence counsel Melinda Walker asked acting chief judge Michael McInerney to consider deferring a jail term so Evangelistis could continue undergoing rehabilitation in an effort to beat a drug addiction.
Ms Walker said her client, who also has mental-health problems, told police he had planned to use the money he stole to buy drugs so he could take his own life.
Evangelistis was estranged from his wife and children at the time, the court heard.
Acting chief judge McInerney said deferring a punishment might be inappropriate, as Evangelistis had previously blown a chance when sentenced to six months jail and a six-month community corrections order over a 2001 armed robbery.
Prosecutor Temple Saville called for an immediate jail term for serious offending against a "soft" and vulnerable target.
Evangelistis, who is undergoing rehabilitation in Hoppers Crossing, had his bail extended to return to court on Tuesday.
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