A Mayfield man accused of robbing the Iron Horse Inn at Cardiff and holding up the Boatrowers Hotel at Stockton has pleaded not guilty and will face a trial in Newcastle District Court.
Nathan Wayne Paul, 34, was represented by solicitor Chris O'Brien when he appeared in Newcastle Local Court on Wednesday via audio visual link from Bathurst Correctional Centre.
He pleaded not guilty to two counts of armed robbery, possession of an unauthorised pistol, acquiring a firearm subject to a prohibition order and driving a stolen car.
Detectives had alleged Mr Paul was responsible for another armed robbery at the Boatrowers Hotel in December, 2021, during which a staff member was knocked out and had his jaw broken by a firearm, but prosecutors have now withdrawn that charge.
The matters were adjourned until next week in Newcastle District Court when Mr Paul's matter will join up with Jade Thompson and Benjamin Matheson; the other two alleged participants in the Iron Horse Inn armed robbery.
The trio are expected to all plead not guilty and get a trial date, likely in 2024.
Detectives say two masked men - one armed with a handgun and the other with a meat cleaver - walked into the Cardiff pub about 12.20am on January 25 last year and threatened two employees, aged 52 and 25, before taking the cash register and fleeing.
Police were told they left in a blue Ford Falcon sedan last seen heading east along Main Street.
The employees of the pub were shaken but not injured.
About six months after his arrest over the Iron Horse Inn robbery, Robbery and Serious Crime Squad detectives charged Mr Paul with holding up the Boatrowers Hotel at Stockton on June 26, 2019.
It was about 11.30pm when two masked men armed with a firearm and a tomahawk walked into the pub on Fullerton Street and threatened and assaulted employees.
The men demanded money from the till and other items from staff, before fleeing the location in a stolen vehicle which was later found burnt out on Pitt Street.
Two employees suffered minor injuries during the incident but have since recovered.
To see more stories and read today's paper download the Newcastle Herald news app here.
