Homeless man who held-up stores wanted to go back to jail

Jonathan Luke Hedley was on Wednesday sentenced to three and a half years in jail for the acts he committed on April 23 last year - his 37^th birthday.

Newcastle District Court heard that Hedley threatened the female attendant at the Nova 24 Seven convenience store with a 13cm blade just after 11.30am.

"Give me $300 or I will stab you," he repeatedly told the woman working behind the counter as he waved the knife in her direction during the encounter captured on CCTV.

Hedley left empty-handed after the attendant told him several times to leave the store.

After the failed robbery, Hedley walked east along Hunter Street and went into My Local Store, where he threatened to stab the man working there, and again demanded $300.

"Are you pranking me?" the man asked Hedley before he handed him six $50 notes from the cash register.

Hedley then went to Customs House, only a few hundred metres away, and used some of the money he had stolen to buy food and drinks over about 80 minutes.

Police soon saw him wandering along Wharf Road and arrested him after a brief foot chase.

In sentencing Hedley, Judge Peter McGrath said the now 38-year-old made no attempt to disguise himself during the two hold-ups and described the incidents as "opportunistic and unplanned".

Judge McGrath said Hedley was experiencing homelessness at the time of the crimes, after he left his public housing accommodation because he believed people who lived nearby were taking advantage of him.

The court heard Hedley, who had been sleeping on trains, admitted to holding-up the stores so he could be taken back into custody, which he considered to be relief from homelessness.

Judge McGrath told the court he made special considerations when sentencing Hedley because of complex mental health and addiction issues which would "require ongoing and extensive assistance" - and tailored treatment was not likely to be available in custody.

Hedley will first be eligible for parole in May, 2025.