IT was a wild and unpredictable crime spree, fuelled by methadone, alcohol, cannabis and ice, that criss-crossed the Hunter and included three armed robberies and a carjacking in the space of about 90 minutes.
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And on Friday, Gregory Ian Garvey, 44, who has spent nearly all of his adult life behind bars, was sentenced to a maximum of 10 years and six months in jail, with a non-parole period of six years and six months.
Garvey had consumed methadone, a bottle of port, half a gram of ice and a gram of cannabis on the morning he “blacked out” and went on the crime spree, racing across the Hunter from Telarah to The Junction and then to Heatherbrae before a wild arrest, during which he tried to grab a police officer’s gun.
Armed with a shortened 12-gauge shotgun and a kitchen knife, Garvey held up a female staff member at the IGA supermarket at Telarah, two women at a pharmacy at The Junction and then carjacked a man at a service station at Heatherbrae on October 26 last year.
During the robbery at The Junction, Garvey pointed the shotgun at staff and demanded methadone and cash before stealing one of the women’s handbags.
During the drive from The Junction to Heatherbrae, Garvey tried to overtake a garbage truck at speed on the Pacific Highway but collided with the vehicle and spun out of control.
He got back on the road and drove to the service station at Motto Farm at 10.50am where he pulled the shotgun on a man who was pumping petrol.
“Give me your keys, I’ve got a gun,” Garvey told the man, pointing the weapon at him. He got into the driver’s seat, but police arrived before he could drive away.
The officers smashed the window and pulled their guns on Garvey.
But Garvey struggled wildly, shouted that he had a firearm, grabbed onto one of the police officer’s holstered guns and tried to use the police baton to hit them before he was eventually subdued.
“The victims each recounted the fear and stress they experienced and disclosed the continuing effects of the trauma,” Judge Tim Gartelmann, SC, said. Garvey will be eligible for parole in 2024.