TAS: Santa Claus bandit sentenced to four years' jail

AAP General News (Australia)
02-03-2004
TAS: Santa Claus bandit sentenced to four years' jail

A man who dressed up as Santa Claus to rob a bank in Tasmania has been jailed for four
years -- but it could have been worse.

The judge who sentenced GREGORY JOHN HARTLAND-WHITE says he's cut the jail term partly
because of the amateurish nature of the crime.

HARTLAND-WHITE pleaded guilty to robbing a Launceston branch of the Westpac bank of
$13,450 in December 2002.

He bought a Santa suit from a nearby shop and used two pieces of pipe to make a fake
shotgun for the holdup.

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