newy.com.au – A third man has been charged and refused bail over the armed robbery of Cooks Hill’s Commonwealth Hotel, more than two years after a cleaner was seriously injured in the early-morning attack.
Robbery and Serious Crimes Squad detectives arrested the 30-year-old at a home on Skilton Avenue, Maitland, about 7.35am on Monday, 14 September, following further inquiries and a public appeal.
He was taken to Maitland Police Station and charged with robbery armed with an offensive weapon, reckless grievous bodily harm in company, possession of an unauthorised pistol and possession of an unauthorised firearm.
The robbery occurred about 4am on Wednesday, 28 February 2024, at the hotel on the corner of Union and Bull streets. Police allege two men armed with a machete and a baseball bat threatened and detained the hotel’s 50-year-old manager before forcing him to open the hotel door.
A third man, who had been waiting outside in a vehicle, allegedly assaulted a 68-year-old cleaner employed by the hotel. Police allege the three men then fled in the vehicle with cash.
Newcastle City police found the cleaner unconscious. NSW Ambulance paramedics treated him before taking him to hospital in a serious condition. The manager was uninjured, police said.
The latest arrest follows the sentencing of two other men, John Jerrett and Marley Tiopira, who pleaded guilty to armed robbery and reckless grievous bodily harm in company.
About $125,000 was stolen in the robbery. Jerrett was sentenced to seven years and four months in prison, with a non-parole period of four years and four months. Tiopira received seven years and three months, with a non-parole period of four years and three months.
Local police began the investigation before State Crime Command detectives continued the inquiry under Strike Force Krichauff.
Police released CCTV images on 7 September, seeking information about a man shown in the footage and a white Mercedes-Benz A190 hatchback with damage to its rear left passenger door. The arrest followed a week later.
The newly charged man appeared before Bail Division Local Court 2 on Monday and was formally refused bail. He is due to appear at Newcastle Local Court on Wednesday, 11 November 2026.
