Three Youngtown youths robbed a video shop at knifepoint because they were bored and thought it would be an exciting thing to do, the Supreme Court in Launceston heard yesterday.
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The trio ``staked out'' the Video Ezy store at Kings Meadows, studied a floor plan of the premises and then armed themselves with two baseball bats and a knife before committing the robbery on November 13 last year.
Terrence Graham Boon, 17, his brother Richard Leslie Boon, 15, both of Lockhart St, and Terry Bament, 16, of Sisson St, each pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated armed robbery in the Supreme Court yesterday.
They have also pleaded guilty to stealing the Holden Gemini they used as a getaway car.
Crown prosecutor John Ransom said the youths entered the store with stockings over their heads at 10.20pm.
Bament and Richard Boon walked into the store carrying baseball bats while Terrence Boon, armed with a small folding knife, acted as lookout at the front door.
They confronted the lone 31-year-old female shop assistant while she was on the phone and demanded money.
They fled with $545 and dumped the getaway car, stolen from Youngtown earlier that night, in bushland near Poplar Pde.
They divided their haul equally and spent it on food and alcohol.
The car was found the next day and police arrested and charged the youths six days after the robbery.
All three made admissions in subsequent interviews with police.
Defence counsels for the youths said they only realised the seriousness of the crime after it had been committed.
Mr Ransom told the court the trio planned the robbery at least one week in advance and had selected what they thought would be a soft target. The raid, late on a Friday night, was also timed to net as much of the day's takings as possible.
Mr Ransom said Bament had told police that the trio had agreed to use violence during the robbery if they had to.
Richard Boon's lawyer, Andrew Woodgate, said his client had been bored and that the robbery ``seemed a daring and exciting thing to do''.
``Now he realises that an act like that can have horrible consequences,'' Mr Woodgate said.
Mr Woodgate urged Justice Peter Evans to view the robbery as misguided rather than criminal.
Terrence Boon's lawyer, Grant Tucker, said his client had cooperated with police, had no prior convictions and had good prospects for rehabilitation.
Lawyer Theresa Eaton, acting for Bament, said her client felt he had been influenced by the other two.
He has a full-time labouring job and strong prospects for reform, Ms Eaton said.
Mr Ransom said the shop assistant had been ``shaken and distressed'' and that the incident had partly influenced her decision to take up a different job.
Justice Peter Evans ordered pre-sentence reports and bailed the youths to reappear in the Supreme Court in Hobart for sentence at 10am on May 5.
