UNSUCCESSFUL HITS
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A WOMAN who tried to rob a local chemist armed with a knife will spend at least two years behind bars.
Elizabeth Lenore Allan stormed the Southgate Shopping Centre’s Family Pharmacy about noon on September 26 last year in an attempt to get her hands on drugs.
But when she was refused, the 28-year-old brandished a knife, ordering staff to hand over the drugs.
Staff immediately raised the alarm before four police cars swarmed the area.
Allan was arrested on the spot and swiftly escorted out of the chemist by police but not before she spat on a local TV cameraman – an offence which saw her jailed for nine months.
Allan was also on the run from police at the time after a similar offence at a chemist in Sydney earlier that month.
On September 12, she held up the pharmacy on Queen St in St Marys using a syringe in an attempt to obtain medication.
Allan was originally charged with two counts of robbery armed with an offensive weapon but after negotiations in Tamworth District Court, she eventually pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted armed robbery with an offensive weapon.
Chief District Court Judge Reg Blanch sentenced Allan to three years in prison with a non-parole period of two years for each offence to be served concurrently.
Allan, who was also jailed by Magistrate Roger Prowse in Tamworth Local Court late last year for nine months for common assault after spitting on the cameraman, failed in her bid to have that sentence reduced.
She lodged an appeal in the district court but it was dismissed by Judge Blanch, who confirmed the sentence.
The sentences have been backdated to her arrest in September. Allan will be eligible for parole in September 2015.