A few days after Christmas last year a Berkeley woman armed herself with a box cutter, donned herself in black and headed straight for a Warrawong servo with hopes of swiping cash.
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Yet all Anne-Marie Gallacher managed to grab were half a dozen packets of cigarettes.
The male victim, working at the BP service station on King Street, was counting money at the till when a masked Gallacher entered with her co-accused about 5.40am on December 28, 2022.
Gallacher, 28, whipped out a silver box cutter knife, placed it on the counter and yelled: "Open the till ... give me all the money in the till!"
The victim refused however Gallacher continued with her demands: "Give me the money in the till or my friend with the gun's going to come in!"
The frightened victim immediately shut the till and fled into the back office where a colleague was watching the situation unfold on CCTV.
The pair locked themselves in the office. Meanwhile Gallacher jumped onto the counter and climbed through the security screen, continuing her demands to "open the f---ing till".
One of the victims asked her to leave several times before Gallacher jumped down, opened the cigarette cabinet and grabbed six packets of Winfield cigarettes.
Gallacher then jumped back over the counter and fell over before she and her co-accused fled outside, running towards the Open Hearth Hotel.
The women were caught on CCTV running into the venue's car park and hiding near a large green electrical box. They took off their black clothing and dumped them on the ground before walking off.
Police arrived shortly after and seized the discarded garments.
Two days later, Gallacher handed herself into Lake Illawarra police station after CCTV stills were released on social media.
She was arrested and made full admissions to her offending, adding she had tied a shirt around her face to conceal her identity.
Tendered court documents state Gallacher expressed remorse for her behaviour and that it was the first time she consumed the drug 'ice'.
Gallacher faced Wollongong Local Court on Wednesday and pleaded guilty to armed robbery and larceny. She will receive her punishment date on September 27.
Read more Illawarra court and crime stories here.
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Grace Crivellaro
Court reporter for the Illawarra Mercury.
Court reporter for the Illawarra Mercury.
