A Brimbank mother of two, who drugged her jewellery store lover during intercourse, then stole more than $260,000 in jewellery to pay off a gambling debt, has been ordered to serve a five-year community corrections order.
Truc Ly Nguyen pleaded guilty in the County Court in January to armed robbery.
At a sentencing hearing on February 3 the court was told Nguyen was 37 when she began a sexual relationship in May 2014 with the 62-year-old store owner.
On July 16 that year, Nguyen went to the man’s shop with some noodles and later, during sex, she forced a syringe into his arm telling him it was for his health.
The man was found at the shop by his daughter in a “drowsy” condition about 1am. After waking at 5.30am, he realised his iPhone and safe keys were missing and could not remember what had happened.
The safe contained between $30,000 and $70,000 in cash, more than $200,000 in jewellery and a tray of gold bracelets valued at $50,000 before the robbery.
The court heard Nguyen cut a cord to the shop’s CCTV cameras, but footage subsequently recovered implicated her in the robbery.
A police search of Nguyen’s house the following day found the keys and safe and bags containing jewellery valued about $268,000.
Jewellery valued at $50,000 and about $80,000 in cash remain outstanding.
Nguyen admitted the theft claiming she owed $40,000 to two women she met at a casino, having developed a gambling addiction when her marriage broke down in 2007.
A toxicology report said a cocktail of at least five different drugs were found in the shop owner’s system.
Judge Sandra Davis said it was a “very unusual case”.
“The offending is a serious example of armed robbery, committed against someone you knew, and who trusted you, and who had helped you financially in the past,” she said.
“It was committed for financial gain.”
Judge Davis also ordered Nguyen to complete 300 hours of unpaid community work.
