The actions of two young men in trying to rob a Louis Vuitton store with no escape plan or attempt to trip the alarm was “stupidity, amateurish and foolhardy”.
And that’s just what one of their barristers thought.
“It would almost seem as if a person committing this offence could have expected to have been detained on the premises,” Brett Eurell told Downing Centre District Court on Thursday.
Adam Achrafi, 19, and Naef Chaouk, 21, faced a sentencing hearing after pleading guilty to aggravated break and enter, damaging property and attempting to steal a car.
The pair and another man, who cannot be identified, travelled in a stolen Audi to Sydney’s Louis Vuitton store in August and broke inside.
The were captured on CCTV loading leather goods and jewellery into a bag and onto bed sheets, facts tendered to the court state.
More than 70 items worth $426,000 from the luxury store were later found in a fire escape at the back of the building.
During the amateur break in and failed attempt to escape, they also caused $13,000 damage to the building, the facts state.
After trying to flee through a back door, CCTV caught one of them trying to steal an Alfa Romeo in a nearby car park.
They were arrested by police in the area. The court heard on Thursday that Achrafi’s “uncharacteristic conduct” was based on his inebriation.
Eurell said the crime was a fool’s errand and labelled the behaviour inside the store – including knocking over stands and damaging property – stupidity.
The court heard Achrafi suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after being shot twice in separate occasions in the past two years.
Judge Robyn Tupman commented that at “the ripe age of 19, people don’t just get shot at” and there was usually more to it.
Eurell said by associating with certain people, Achrafi had been taken in a direction that had taught him some hard lessons.
Chaouk’s barrister, John Kalantar, said his client came from a family with a criminal background.
His father had been extradited to the United States for serious firearm offences and his brothers had spent time in custody.
Chaouk and Achrafi will be sentenced on Friday.
Their co-offender was dealt with separately.
AAP
