A Queensland man who was charged with trying to rob two Port Stephens service stations in just two days and set fire to a random car was extradited back to NSW to face the charges.
Joel Christopher Redman, 23, is alleged to have first set his sights on a Metro petrol Station at Heatherbrae on December 27.
Police allege at around 7pm, he attempted to rob the servo on Adelaide St. He approached the counter to threaten staff with a glock-like pistol before he demanded cash and cigarettes.
Just a day later, Redman hit up a Caltex service station again on Adelaide St at Raymond Terrace in the early hours of the morning, where he smashed a number of windows with a sledge hammer.
Court documents revealed he squeezed his arm through the broken window to steal $1.60 worth of cash bags, a packet of Allens lollies, tubs of Nutella and a small jar of coins.
In a later interview with police he told them he was seeking money in an attempt to travel to Queensland to visit his mother.
In an earlier incident on Christmas day, Redman set alight a Citroen C3 that was parked on Sturgeon St at Raymond Terrace.
Court documents said he had told police he was in a drug induced state when he had deliberately set fire to a piece of clothing before throwing it into the vehicle and watching it burn.
In Raymond Terrace Local Court on Thursday, Redman didn’t make an appearance but his solicitor Kath Cooper pleaded guilty on his behalf to a break and enter charge at the Raymond Terrace Caltex and recklessly damaging property by fire when he set alight the car on Christmas day.
The three other charges he faces including robbery armed with dangerous weapon, armed with intent to commit an indictable offence and the possession of an unauthorised weapon, there was no plea made.
His whirlwind few days of crime and destruction eventually caught up with Redman, when he was arrested on Monday on an outstanding warrant by Queensland police at a unit at Sabrina.
Investigators applied for and were granted his extradition back to NSW at Mackay Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
In court there was no application for bail made and the matter was adjourned until March for a mental health assessment to be completed.
Extracted from Daily Telegraph