Man faces court 30 years after violent armed robbery

A man accused of shooting three people during a violent armed robbery appeared in court 30 years after the alleged crime.

Garry Sullivan, 78, appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Monday, 32 years after he allegedly confronted two Armaguard employees who were collecting weekend footage of a cinema at Chadstone shopping center on May 16, 1994.

The former rugby league player was not required to speak at the brief hearing and no details of the alleged crimes were read to the court.

But his lawyer, Felix Best, told the court that Sullivan was suffering from coronary artery disease, oral cancer and a diagnosis of celiac disease, and had not eaten for several days due to the lack of gluten-free meals in police custody.

Weeks before his arrest, Victoria Police announced it was reopening its investigation into the armed robbery after receiving new intelligence.

During a press conference, Detective Inspector Adam Tilley revealed that the then-unknown attacker ordered the guards to “get on the ground, drop the money”, then shot one of the guards in the right ankle, with the bullet ricocheting into the other guard’s shoe.

Det Insp Tilley said the offender then took the bags full of cash and stole two Armaguard pistols.

A 40-year-old Doveton man who was chasing the fleeing attacker was also shot in the leg and his femur was shattered.

Carl Benjaminsen, son of late Armaguard employee Sverre Benjaminsen, said at the time that his father carried the impact of the incident for the rest of his life and that the family was keen to see “justice finally served”.

Sullivan did not apply for bail on Monday and was remanded in custody to appear via video link in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on October 13.