AN ARMIDALE man has been jailed for more than seven years for a frightening robbery and violent wounding.
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Darren Brian Cutmore will have to serve at least four-years-and-nine-months in prison for the wounding and Armidale robbery in separate incidents in 2015.
Cutmore has been in custody since September, 2015, when he was pulled from the boot of a car that was stopped by Armidale detectives on Waterfall Way at Hillgrove.
He initially denied the charges against him but reversed his plea in an Armidale court, last year.
Cutmore admitted to his involvement in the 2015 home invasion in MacDonald Drive, Armidale, just days after he was due to stand trial.
He was armed with a large knife, and part of a gang of four who robbed the resident armed with a .410 shotgun and a .22-calibre rifle, while three children were in the home.
The Crown had maintained Cutmore was part of a joint criminal enterprise and in company with an unnamed party when he robbed the occupant of $5,000 in cash, approximately $12,000 worth of assorted jewellery and three mobile phones.
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According to a signed statement of facts, Cutmore admitted to storming the home about 3am on September 5, 2015, with a knife with a six-inch silver blade.
The offenders threatened the victim inside the house before one of the intruders “picked up a baseball bat and forced it into [the victim’s mouth] causing a tooth to chip”.
One of the intruders then shouted “cops, boys” and they fled, after one of the children rang Triple Zero while they were hiding in a bedroom.
Cutmore was on the run from police at the time he carried out the home invasion. Since his arrest, he’s been found guilty at trial for the wounding.
In Coffs Harbour District Court, Judge Laura Wells sentenced Cutmore for charges of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and robbery while armed with a dangerous weapon for the Armidale incident.
She handed Cutmore a total sentence of seven-and-a-half years for both offences.
After time served, Cutmore will be eligible for parole in late-September, 2020.
Two women who admitted to being accessories to the Armidale home invasion have been sentenced, while a man awaiting trial for his alleged involvement died in custody, last year.