A 15-year-old boy who lured a pizza delivery driver to an address in Hobart’s northern suburbs with a fake order before robbing him at knifepoint has been sentenced in the Supreme Court.
The teenager and two accomplices placed an order with Domino’s Pizza requesting cash payment on delivery to a Gagebrook home in May last year.
When the 20-year-old driver arrived just after 11pm, the boy met him at the front door armed with a 20-centimetre kitchen knife.
He demanded the cash float while brandishing the blade at the terrified driver, who was standing just half a metre away.
A second person then appeared from behind the property wearing a black bandana and hood.
The teenager demanded the driver hand over his car keys.
A third accomplice emerged from inside the house and collected the pizza hot box containing about $40 in cash.
As the trio walked towards the victim’s car, the accomplices made chilling threats.
“I’ll r–e you,” one said. “Just stab him,” said the other.
The three then drove off in the stolen vehicle, leaving the driver to flee on foot and knock on neighbours’ doors for help. His phone was in the car.
Police found the vehicle abandoned in grassland nearby before midnight. The knife was on the driver’s seat.
Fingerprints and DNA on the knife and steering wheel led investigators to the teenager.
They also found a Snapchat message he sent hours after the robbery.
“I stole a Domino’s car with a big knife. I told him to give me the keys,” it read.
The boy pleaded guilty to aggravated armed robbery and motor vehicle stealing.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Chris Shanahan sentenced him to nine months detention, backdated to April 2025.
“Whilst no victim impact statement was provided, one does not need an overactive imagination to appreciate the impact on a 20-year-old pizza delivery driver, when being threatened with a knife some 20cm long,” he said.
