By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS
A NARRE Warren man has been remanded to appear in court today on eight charges of armed robbery using a knife in shops in Melbourne’s south-east in June.
Sean Peter O’Toole, 26, appeared briefly via video link in Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on 11 July and did not apply for bail.
He had been remanded in custody since being arrested two weekends earlier.
“I love you mum,” he sobbed to relatives in the court gallery.
Magistrate Jack Vandersteen noted O’Toole had been on bail during several of the offences, as well as a community corrections order.
O’Toole was accused of an armed robbery of a Narre Warren servo on 7 June, stealing $170 cash and a packet of Winfield cigarettes.
He was also charged over an armed robbery of $300 from a Clayton tobacconist on 24 June, $100 from a Pakenham servo as well as $60 from a person on 27 June.
The other alleged armed robberies involved $300 from a Springvale grocery store on 27 June, $150 from a person in Springvale on 28 June, $650 from a Springvale clothes shop on 29 June, and $200 from a Hawthorn tobacconist on 30 June.
O’Toole was charged with attempted armed robberies at Springvale on 27 June and Hawthorn on 30 June.
He was also charged with a Noble Park burglary on 7 April, allegedly stealing cash, jewellery and bank cards valued at $1020.
The accused allegedly used a bank card not belonging to him to dishonestly buy $59 of items at Coles in Noble Park that day.
He also allegedly stole $2800 of jewellery and a digital camera in a Narre Warren burglary in April, and destroyed a window in Hampton Park in May.
O’Toole was also charged with speeding at 113 km/h in an 80 km/h zone as well as two counts of driving unlicensed and a single count of driving an unregistered vehicle.
He will appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court for a filing hearing over the alleged armed robberies on 12 July.
He will appear on the other charges, including possession of methamphetamine and breaching a corrections order, at Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on 11 August.
