Man commits robbery to be jailed to avoid facing former girlfriend

MELBOURNE - In a bizarre incident, a man robbed a service station just so he would end up in jail and not have to face his former girlfriend.

Craig Douglas Allen, 33, is said to have armed himself with a butcher’s knife and demanded a 22-year-old male attendant at a Bridgewater service station to hand over money in June 2010.

Allen obtained 450 dollars in notes and ran off but was caught soon after walking along the road.

“You admitted being involved in the robbery and said that you wanted to do it so that you could go back to jail,” themercury.com.au quoted Justice David Porter as saying.

“When interviewed you confirmed that it was your intention to get yourself into trouble and to go to jail as you had broken up with your girlfriend and that this would prevent you from seeing or contacting her.

“This is a rather unusual case. It is clear from the facts that you quickly returned to the scene in order to be apprehended.

“Regrettably you saw committing the crime as a way of avoiding the immediate issue following the relationship breakdown,” he stated.

Allen pleaded guilty to a count of armed robbery, and Justice Porter ordered that he not be eligible for parole until he had served 15 months in prison. (ANI)