REAL CROOK FOUND SO HOW COME SOMEBODY ELSE "CONFESSED"?

Looks like another confession coerced by the police

A Byron Bay charity worker has admitted he robbed a Brisbane newsagency, four years after another man was jailed for the same offence. Damien Paul Godwin, 32, has pleaded guilty in the Brisbane District Court to robbing a Camp Hill newsagency on February 23, 2001, while pretending to be armed with a gun. He had painted a sawn-down curtain rod to look like the barrel of a gun.

Crown Prosecutor Brendan James said Lee William Carkeet had pleaded guilty to the robbery and a number of other offences in September 2001 and was subsequently jailed but fingerprints found at the scene were later matched to Godwin. He made full admissions when eventually found by police.

The court heard Godwin, who had a gambling problem at the time, made the self-described "idiotic plan" to rob the newsagency to repay a $1000 debt after he and his then de facto partner had been threatened with serious harm. It was told Godwin handed the shop assistant at the Old Cleveland Rd store a note demanding all the $50 and $20 notes or he would shoot her. He escaped with $225. The court was also told the shop assistant had been robbed several times before and had trouble distinguishing each separate event.

Defence barrister Bruce Mumford said his client was willing to repay $225 in compensation, had dealt with his gambling problem and was now living with his family while working as a volunteer for Meals on Wheels and Landcare Australia. Judge Ian Dearden sentenced Godwin to three years' jail to be suspended after serving nine months, for an operational period of four years.

Report here


(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today)