A man who stole $150,000 worth of jewellery at gunpoint while he and an accomplice wore burqas and balaclavas has been sentenced to eight years behind bars.
Brisbane’s District Court heard Cody Shannon Blake researched where to purchase ‘Muslim female garments’ and balaclavas in May of 2023, as the 22-year-old was sentenced for the ‘aggressive’ and ‘terrifying’ robbery earlier this month.
The court heard Blake also researched jewellery stores in Brisbane, deciding to rob Calamvale Central’s Rhia Collection jewellery store in the city’s south.
He visited the shopping centre to film the fire exits and note the store clerk’s behaviours – including at what time he packed away the most valuable stock – in the days leading up to the brazen robbery.
On May 22, Blake and a co-offender drove to the Calamvale jeweller in a stolen Mercedes, sporting black balaclavas, burqas and black bags.
Then-20-year-old, Blake, and his accomplice brazenly burst into the store at 4.40pm and told the owner to ‘put everything in the f****** bag and don’t make a f****** noise’, the court heard.
Blake then flashed his black and grey shotgun at the store owner. His co-offender was also carrying a handgun, both of which, the court later heard, were likely unloaded.
Judge Bradley Farr, SC, believed Blake’s co-offender then told the store owner: ‘Just do it c**t. Don’t make a noise’.
Cody Shannon Blake, 22, has been sentenced to eight years behind bars on a charge of armed robbery in company after a ‘meticulous’ robbery
The two men wearing balaclavas and burqas managed to make off with about $150,000 in jewellery
When the owner didn’t reply, Blake took to a glass display case with the butt of his shotgun, smacking it twice.
The case, however, didn’t break and Blake dropped his firearm on the floor.
The court heard this made Blake more aggressive. He made the owner partially open a drawer before his accomplice shoveled a number of gold pieces of jewellery from the case into his bag.
A horrified shopper’s scream then 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 hurried to make their exit, in CCTV footage from the store.
After the robbery, the court heard Blake then used the stolen Mercedes to drive away from the shopping centre, with the $150,000 in jewellery.
But when police executed a search warrant at Blake’s house, there was no trace of the loot.
Cops found two firearms at the home, the court heard, and a mobile phone which they seized and scraped, turning up evidence Blake had been researching ‘scrap gold’ online.
The jewellery has never been recovered.
Judge Farr said the events of 2023 were ‘very serious offending conduct’.
‘The victim impact statement from the complainant has demonstrated the adverse impact that you have had upon him. He has suffered psychologically. He suffers from anxiety as a consequence of your behaviour. All of which is completely understandable,’ the Judge told Blake.
The store owner’s victim impact statement told the court he continued to suffer psychologically after the robbery
‘The presentation of the pair of you, disguised as you were, behaving as aggressively as you were in tandem, both of whom armed with firearms would have been terrifying for the complainant.’
The Judge did accept Blake had come from a disadvantaged household, struggling with drug abuse, and had been exposed to parental drug use, domestic violence, and the suspected overdose death of his oldest sibling as a young man.
Blake’s counsel placed emphasis on his upbringing, Judge Farr said, and requested a sentence of six to seven years behind bars, though the maximum sentence for armed robbery offences can be life in prison.
The Crown called for eight.
Judge Farr said the serious nature of Blakes offence required as much consideration as his youth and opted for the prosecution’s submission.
‘This was not an offence 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 would seem, some reasonably substantial period of time.’
‘Having taken all of the matters into account, it is my view that a sentence of eight years’ imprisonment as a head sentence is the appropriate sentence.’
Blake will be eligible for parole on July 29, 2025, having served 499 days of presentence custody, according to court documents.
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