A businessman addicted to methamphetamine who robbed a Hobart service station at midnight with a stick hidden in his jumper before targeting a Subway store the following day has avoided jail.
Scott MacKinnon, 48, was recently handed an 18-month suspended sentence by Chief Justice Chris Shanahan in the Supreme Court of Tasmania.
MacKinnon pleaded guilty to demanding property with menaces and two counts of stealing after his crime spree in February 2024.
The court was told MacKinnon’s first target was the United service station on the Brooker Highway in Lutana, which he entered just after midnight on February 12 last year.
Armed with a stick hidden in his hoodie, he grabbed a Coke from the fridge before approaching the counter with a plastic bag and demanding the worker fill it with cash.
‘Put the money in the bag and hurry up,’ he told the terrified employee while making threatening gestures. The worker handed over about $500 in notes.
The next evening, MacKinnon struck again at Subway in Claremont Plaza. He ordered a $24 chicken sandwich but when it came time to pay, placed a Woolworths shopping bag on the counter and demanded cash instead.
The staff member put $240 into the bag. When asked if he would pay for his food, MacKinnon replied: “Next time.”
He was arrested the following day and made full admissions during a police interview, saying he was 48-years-old and should have known better.
MacKinnon admitted using the stolen money to buy methylamphetamine and food, saying he had been in financial hardship for years due to drug use.
The court also heard that MacKinnon lost over $1.5 million during the global financial crisis and went bankrupt soon after.
In sentencing, Chief Justice Shanahan said general deterrence was a key factor, noting that theft to support drug habits is “all too common”.
“It is important that sentences for this type of offence which put service personnel, some of whom can be very young, at risk be publicly condemned,” he said.
“People working in the food industry and petrol station businesses are entitled to feel safe during the course of their employment.”
MacKinnon must complete 120 hours of community service and if he commits any offence punishable by imprisonment in the next 18 months, will serve the full prison sentence.
