A Queensland boxer has pleaded guilty to a violent robbery targeting a 70-year-old man whom he and two co-offenders met through the dating app Grindr.
Cooper Roam Watt, now 20, appeared in Brisbane court after pleading guilty to one count of robbery in company with personal violence over an offence committed when he was 18.
The court heard that Watt and two underage co-offenders used Grindr to contact the man before arranging to meet him at a park in Deception Bay, north of Brisbane.
After sending the man a nude image, the trio arranged a meeting and allegedly assaulted him upon arrival. They then forced him to drive to an ATM and withdraw $3,000 in cash.
After obtaining the money, the group drove the man back to the park, where he was allegedly assaulted again and his mobile phone was stolen.
During the attack, the victim was repeatedly called a paedophile.
Prosecutor Zachary Kaplan argued the offending reflected what he described as a “manosphere epidemic”.
“It relates to what really is an epidemic in relation to young men consuming material online and being encouraged to take back society from these people,” Kaplan told the court, according to reporting by The Courier-Mail.
He said Watt and his co-offenders had acted on those beliefs.
Defence barrister Kerala Drew urged the court to impose probation without recording a conviction, citing Watt’s youth and efforts to address his mental health.
She described the offending as a “foolish, isolated incident” and submitted that Watt had played a lesser role than his co-offenders, whose matters were dealt with in the Children’s Court.
Drew also said Watt lost his aged-care job following the incident but had since secured work with a building company.
Sentencing Watt, Judge John Allen KC said that, as an adult offender, he faced significantly more serious penalties, including a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
“The offending was also serious in that it was targeted against a person by reason of his sexuality, and it’s not justified by any vigilante motive,” the judge said.
The judge rejected the defence application for no conviction to be recorded.
Watt was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment but was granted immediate parole. He was also ordered to repay $3,000 to the victim.
