Australian bank robber given an additional eight years in prison — ABC News Australia

A court in Port Macquarie, Australia, sentenced Alexander Robert Macdonald to an additional eight years in prison for two armed bank robberies and two counts of holding people for advantage without harming them. Under this additional sentence, the court set a minimum non-parole period of five years, ABC News Australia reports.

In August, Macdonald pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon and two counts of unlawfully detaining victims. The court heard that in 1996 and 1997, he stole a total of $96,000 from banks in the New South Wales towns of Coonabarabran and Laurieton.

Hostage at Laurieton bank

During both robberies, Macdonald was armed with a sawn-off double-barrelled shotgun. At the Laurieton bank branch, he took employee Brett Charlesley hostage and forced him to walk ahead of him. Charlesley was released when the attacker reached the getaway car.

Charlesley, 65, attended the sentencing. He said he immediately recognised Macdonald by his voice, and that the court's decision gave him some sense of closure.

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Previous crimes and imprisonment

Judge Michael King said Macdonald committed the crimes to support his criminal lifestyle. In 1998, he was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 25 years for intentional murder, unlawful deprivation of liberty and armed robbery.

According to case materials, in 1996 in Western Australia, Macdonald killed Ronald Joseph Williams in order to impersonate him. In 2021, he was transferred from Western Australia to a prison in Queensland, and this year he was extradited to New South Wales on additional armed robbery charges.

Macdonald, who represented himself, acknowledged in court that the threat posed by a sawn-off shotgun has a significant impact on victims. He will be eligible to apply for parole in 2034.