A man who stole $150,000 worth of jewelry at gunpoint while he and an accomplice wore burqas and balaclavas has been sentenced to eight years in prison.
The Brisbane District Court heard Cody Shannon Blake investigate where to buy ‘Muslim women’s clothing’ and balaclavas in May 2023, as the 22-year-old was sentenced for the ‘aggressive’ and ‘frightening’ robbery earlier this month .
The court heard Blake also investigated jewelers in Brisbane and decided to rob Calamvale Central jewelery store Rhia Collection in the city’s south.
He visited the shopping center to film the emergency exits and observe the behavior of the shop assistant, including the time he put away the most valuable stock, in the days before the brazen robbery.
On May 22, Blake and an accomplice drove to Calamvale jewelers in a stolen Mercedes, wearing balaclavas, burqas and black bags.
Blake, then 20, and his accomplice brazenly burst into the store at 4.40pm and told the owner to “put everything in the damn bag and do nothing.” *noise’, the court heard.
Blake then pointed his black and gray shotgun at the store owner. His fellow offender was also carrying a pistol, which the court later heard was probably unloaded.
Judge Bradley Farr, South Carolina, believed Blake’s accomplice told the store owner: “Do it, you dammit.” Don’t make noise.’
Cody Shannon Blake, 22, has been sentenced to eight years in prison for armed robbery of a company after a ‘painstaking’ robbery
The two men wearing balaclavas and burqas managed to make off with around $150,000 worth of jewelry.
When the owner did not respond, Blake grabbed a glass display case with the butt of his shotgun and hit it twice.
The case, however, did not break and Blake dropped his firearm to the ground.
The court heard this caused Blake to become more aggressive. He forced the owner to partially open a drawer before his accomplice removed several gold jewelery from the case and put it in her bag.
A horrified scream from the buyer distracted the two men from the case and the owner appeared to lunge at the men.
The pair appeared to drop trays of watches as they rushed out, in CCTV footage from the store.
After the robbery, the court heard Blake used the stolen Mercedes to drive away from the shopping centre, with the $150,000 worth of jewellery.
But when police executed a search warrant at Blake’s home, there was no sign of the loot.
Cops found two firearms in the house, the court heard, and a mobile phone which they confiscated and scraped, uncovering evidence that Blake had been researching “gold scrap” online.
The jewelry has never been recovered.
Judge Farr said the events of 2023 were “very serious offending conduct”.
‘The complainant’s victim impact statement has demonstrated the adverse impact you have had on him. He has suffered psychologically. He suffers anxiety as a result of his behavior. All of which is completely understandable,” the judge told Blake.
The shop owner’s victim impact statement told the court he continued to suffer psychologically after the robbery.
“The presentation of the two of you, disguised as you were, behaving as aggressively as you were together, both armed with firearms, would have been terrifying to the complainant.”
The judge accepted that Blake came from a disadvantaged home, struggled with drug abuse and had been exposed to his parents’ drug use, domestic violence and the alleged overdose death of his older brother when he was young.
Blake’s attorney put emphasis on his education, Judge Farr said, and requested a sentence of six to seven years behind bars, although the maximum sentence for armed robbery offenses can be life in prison.
The Crown asked for eight.
Judge Farr said the seriousness of Blake’s crime required as much consideration as his youth and opted for the prosecution’s submission.
“This was not a crime that simply occurred as a result of youthful immaturity or stupidity, but was the result of, as I have said, meticulous and careful planning over, it appears, a reasonably substantial period of time.”
“Having taken all the issues into account, I consider that a sentence of eight years’ imprisonment as the primary penalty is the appropriate sentence.”
Blake will be eligible for parole on July 29, 2025, after serving 499 days of pre-sentence custody, according to court documents.