A man who confessed to holding up service stations in Dubbo, Bathurst, Orange and Katoomba faces the prospect of up to 20 years behind bars.
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Jonathon Michael Hardy, 41, formerly of Brewarrina and now of Bathurst Correctional Complex, pleaded guilty to multiple robbery charges in Dubbo Local Court.
According to a statement of agreed facts presented in court, Hardy's first target was an Inland Petroleum service station in Dubbo.
About 6am on August 2 last year, Hardy walked into the business carrying an axe head attached to a wooden handle. He told a 52-year-old female console operator to "open the till" and after she did that, Hardy pocketed about $400.
When he dropped some of the money on the ground, Hardy told the console operator to pick it up and she said "as long as you won't hurt me". Hardy demanded extra money and told the woman to open the safe. When she said she could not do that, Hardy stole her phone and left.
About 14 hours later, at 7.50pm Hardy approached his next victim, a 24-year-old male console operator at the Caltex Service Station in Bathurst. After Hardy paid for cigarette papers he pulled out a small tomahawk and demanded the male victim "open the till". Hardy pocketed about $500, stole several packets of cigarettes and obtained $300 from a safe.
About 12.17am on August 17, Hardy struck again in Orange when he pulled out a 20-centimetre long knife and demanded a 41-year-old male console operator "open the till" from which the robber took about $350.
A Caltex service station in Katoomba was the final business Hardy targeted about 7.40am on the same day he committed the Orange robbery. Alongside another man and with a knife in his possession, Hardy demanded a 27-year-old female console operator "open the till." He got away with about $300.
Police arrested Hardy two days later and court documents revealed while he was remanded in custody on September 19, a SIM card was found in his underpants.
"I just brung it from the outside," Hardy told Corrective Services staff who asked how he came to be in possession of the SIM card.
In court last week Magistrate Gary Wilson dismissed an illegal phone possession charge Hardy also pleaded guilty to.
Magistrate Wilson moved Hardy's robbery case into the Dubbo District Court, where a sentencing date is expected to be set on November 15.
The maximum penalty for robbery with an offensive weapon is 20 years in jail.
