Armed robber jailed after jewelery heist at pawn shop

By Cam Lucadou-Wells

An armed robber who took part in a “brazen” and “frightening” robbery at a Dandenong pawnshop has been jailed.

Blake Platten, 21, pleaded guilty to armed robbery and drug possession in the Victorian County Court.

On the afternoon of October 23 last year, Platten and two men drove up the footpath in a stolen Nissan Pulsar and parked at the front door of Cash Guys on Langhorne Street.

Armed with hammers, Platten and an accomplice wearing a “devil mask” got out of the car and crashed into the store’s glass window and door.

In a 75-second heist, the duo broke glass display cases with hammers and stole approximately $25,000 in jewelry.

Platten was offside when he took the wooden rocking horse and attacked one of the staff members with a hammer, who tried to scare the duo.

The worker fell backwards as the horse came upon him.

Sentencing judge Michael Tinney said on October 16: “This is clear from the footage – a frightening, fast-paced and confronting incident.”

“It was a team effort with a stolen car, a driver, gloves, a bag, disguises and weapons.

“In the final images… we can see various pedestrians running across the road outside the exit. This was a brazen and frightening act of aggression.”

He said the casual worker has since suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety, as well as losing his savings while taking leave from work.

Judge Tinney said: “He was relieved that although he fell during the armed robbery, he was not hit with a hammer or screwdriver.”

The robbers fled in the getaway car to a room at the Comfort Hotel on Gwenda Street. A few days later, Platten was arrested in the room during a police raid.

Police seized a small amount of meth from Platten’s pocket, as well as a purse and hammer used in the robbery.

Most of the stolen items were not found, except for a handful of rings found in the trunk of the Pulsar.

Platten, who had two criminal warrants at the time, denied participating in the robbery in an interview with police.

While one of the criminals objected to the charges, the identity of the other has not yet been determined.

Judge Tinney noted Platten’s youth and disadvantaged upbringing, which included residential care, early drug addiction and only a Grade 7 education.

“A disadvantaged background will have a profound and lasting consequence, as you have probably experienced in your case.

“It leaves its mark.”

Platten’s “short, sharp” criminal history included numerous less serious crimes.

Rehabilitation hopes will depend on “great aspirations” such as stable housing, drug abstinence, mental health treatment and distance from anti-social peers.

“You’re still a very young man… It’s not too late for you yet,” Judge Tinney said.

Platten was sentenced to three and a half years in prison with a non-parole period of 21 months.

He had already served 355 days of pre-sentence detention.