By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A man has been jailed after watching on while his girlfriend and her sister held up a Doveton supermarket with a pole and a stove lighter.
On 3 February, Narzzouli Togo, 25, stood in the doorway of the Foodworks store demanding cigarettes that he said were promised to him by a staff member the day before, the County Court of Victoria heard.
His girlfriend and her sister then walked in with their weapons, threatened two workers at the counter and demanded cigarettes.
One of the workers was told “I’ll kill you” by the girlfriend and spat upon by the sister.
After the worker hit the duress button, the girlfriend leant across the counter, grabbing phone cards and cigarettes.
The three offenders fled together.
The day before the armed robbery, Togo had been arrested at the supermarket for shop theft and possessing a controlled weapon.
He had been fined and released at Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on the same day.
In sentencing on 18 September, Judge Felicity Hampel described Togo as “more of a follower than a leader”.
Togo told police that he didn’t know of his co-offenders’ intentions, but acknowledged he didn’t act to stop the robbery, Judge Hampel said.
The judge noted that Togo’s sharing in the stolen goods was a sign of his complicity.
“By you standing there as if guarding and keeping watch, you would have added to the fear of those employees.”
Togo’s crime was a “relatively low-level example” of a serious, prevalent offence directed at “soft targets” such as supermarkets, service stations and convenience stores.
There was no apparent pre-planning, it was relatively short and Togo wasn’t armed or making verbal threats, Judge Hampel noted.
However, his observing role didn’t reduce his culpability, Judge Hampel said. He faced a mandatory jail term.
Togo had a “troubling” criminal record as well as a long history of drug abuse, particularly with ‘ice’. He’d grown up “fatherless”, left school early and never had a job.
Courts had placed him on rehabilitative community-based sentences – and he’d breached every one, the judge noted.
Judge Hampel was struck by Togo’s “spontaneous” gratitude after being “shamed” by elders at the County Koori Court.
In what was “not an easy option”, Togo accepted the elders’ “very direct” advice to seek meaningful drug rehab, vocational training and employment.
Togo – who wanted to connect with his Koori heritage – had said it was the first time he had spoken with elders.
Judge Hampel rated Togo’s rehabilitation prospects as “reasonable” if he left behind his “drug-taking” circle and followed the elders’ advice.
It was in the community’s interest that Togo was supported by parole programs upon his release, she said.
Togo was convicted and jailed for three years, including an 18-month non-parole period. His term included 134 days in pre-sentence detention.
