An armed robber who threatened two Melton IGA employees and stole $800 had mental health issues and a drug addiction, the County Court has heard.
Paul Cook was sentenced to three-and-a-half years’ jail on February 16 for an armed robbery last August. He was arrested about a month after the robbery and pleaded guilty but told police he did not remember the incident.
The 35-year-old pointed a knife at a male employee’s stomach before climbing over the counter and threatening a female employee, the court was told. He apologised to both and told them he had a “really bad drug problem”.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, the male victim said he had “nightmares and daily recollections of a very frightening event”.
“Of particular relevance is that you have clear mental health issues,” Judge John Jordan told Cook.
“You have suffered permanent brain injuries since at least 2009 following major seizures affecting cognition.”
A 2010 neurology report outlined Cook’s “problems with planning and daily living as a result of organic brain disorder”. A 2011 neuropsychology report said he had cognitive deficits because of temporal lobe seizures, and a 2015 psychiatrist’s report outlined a “compounding” interaction between his drug of dependence and existing cerebral deficits.
The court also heard Cook grew up in a violent household and was exposed to a life of drugs and crime by his father in his early teens.
“Growing up, you lived at something like 30 different addresses,” Judge Jordan said. “Substance abuse commenced in early teen years and spiralled from there to be out of control by your mid-20s.”
Judge Jordan said Cook’s brain injury impacted his “moral culpability” and, therefore, “some mercy should be shown to you in spite of the seriousness of the offence”.
“I hold out some hope for your rehabilitation,” he said. “In spite of what I have said about your brain damage, the community cannot and will not tolerate offending which so seriously compromises a person’s right to feel safe working in a suburban retail shop.”
Cook will be eligible for parole in two-and-a-half years.
