A YOUNG man who along with his "best mate" went on a months-long rural crime spree in the Upper Hunter - setting fire to structures, breaking into homes to steal firearms and committing a terrifying armed robbery - was scared of his partner-in-crime who he said would bash him when he tried to end their friendship, Newcastle District Court has heard.
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Brandon Stephen Kennedy-Jones, was 18 and had no criminal record when he and Brendan Cannard embarked on the crime spree, terrorising farmers and remote property owners in the Upper Hunter between September, 2021 and their arrest in February, 2022.
The pair, according to Cannard, were motivated by a need to get money for drugs and destroy evidence, but mostly by "stupidity" as they torched structures, stole guns and alcohol and stormed a remote service station armed with a machete and a rifle fitted with a silencer.
The pair filmed some of their crimes on their phones and could be heard laughing about the armed robbery victim's fear or a mob of emus desperately trying to outrun their ute.
"Don't kill me, don't kill me," Cannard said, imitating the female victim of the armed robbery. "Haha. Imagine being her and not knowing if we were going to swing that machete down or not. "I can't wait to see it on the news."
While his mate may have been motivated by "stupidity", Kennedy-Jones said there were times he wanted to stop being friends with Cannard and realised he was "going down the wrong path". But he said when he tried to end their friendship, Cannard would beat him up.
He said he "feared" Cannard and went along with him because he was "a mate".
Bullied at school, including at the hands of Cannard, Kennedy-Jones said the pair later reconnected when Cannard asked him to drive him around for cash.
He said Cannard introduced him to drugs and he began spending more time with him. But when he tried to avoid him, Cannard would assault him or threaten to kill him. "I was pretty s--- scared of him," Kennedy-Jones said. "If I ignored him he would just show up."
Cannard was in April jailed for a maximum of 10 years, with a non-parole period of six years for his role in the crime spree.
Judge Sharon Harris said Kennedy-Jones was, to an extent, "under the influence" of Cannard and was "particularly vulnerable" to the pressure of his partner-in-crime due to his background.
She sentenced Kennedy-Jones to a maximum of six years and eight months in jail, with a non-parole period of four years. He will be eligible for parole in 2026.
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