A phone-tracking app helped police find and corner two armed robbers, one of whom then shot an officer in the face to avoid arrest in 2012, a court has heard.
Robert George Speedy and Jake Watson entered a tavern brandishing a machete and a rifle and ordered staff to open the safe so they could remove the day’s takings, prosecutors said.
The pair then allegedly fled with a bag of cash, but unwittingly also stole an employee’s phone, which had the “find my phone” app installed.
The court heard the employee activated the app from a computer, which allowed police to track the phone and the robbers through a nearby park and back yards.
Speedy, 49, of Labrador, pleaded not guilty in Brisbane supreme court to the attempted murder of a police dog handler, Sgt Gary Hamrey, on 27 September 2012.
He pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of malicious act with intent, denying he intended to kill Hamrey, but this was not accepted by the crown.
He also pleaded guilty to three counts of armed robbery.
During the opening of his trial on Tuesday, the prosecutor, Phil McCarthy, said Speedy shot Hamrey from four metres after he and Watson were cornered behind a garden shed.
The two had earlier brandished a machete and a rifle when they entered the Arundel Tavern after midnight and stole $40,000, the court heard.
Hamrey and his dog, Biff, followed the pair, and eventually found them hiding behind a garden shed, McCarthy said.
He said Hamrey warned the two men to drop to the ground, before Speedy raised his gun and fired.
“Sergeant Hamrey will tell you that he felt a thud to the left side of his face and then intense pain,” McCarthy said.
The court heard Hamrey, who had been hit by a bullet that entered his cheek and exited behind his ear, dropped to the ground and fired off shots before calling for medical aid while Biff stood guard.
Speedy and Watson were arrested shortly afterwards, the court heard.
The trial continues.