A chef who conducted 18 daring robberies across Sydney stealing tens of thousands of dollars in cigarettes, cash and other items to fuel his drug habits has been jailed.
Budy Jabbouri, 40, mostly targeted small businesses in a series of break and enters committed over a few weeks in May and June 2022.
"He was like a walking crime wave," Judge Stephen Hanley said on Wednesday.
He conducted successful robberies at a Dural fast food store, a Kurnell grocery, a Wolli Creek construction company, a Prestons factory, a Luddenham pharmacy, a home in Ashfield, and service stations in Toongabbie, Berowra, Forestville and Woolaware.
Across the crime spree, Jabbouri stole $10,000 in tools and computers, tens of thousands of dollars worth of cigarettes, plus medical equipment, thousands of dollars in cash including a safe containing $30,000 in bank notes, and $3000 in jewellery.
Robbing the Peakhurst Hotel with an unnamed accomplice, the pair grabbed a $16500 cigarette machine from the gaming room, threw it down a stairwell causing significant damage and loaded it onto Jabbouri's Mitsubishi Outlander.
The vehicle's back door did not close however and when the pair drove away, the machine fell out onto the road.
Jabbouri also attempted to break into a Kenthurst real estate agency, service stations at Northmead and North Manly, and smashed the front doors of a fast food restaurant and two service stations in Leppington.
He also acted as a driver for another man who robbed the Auburn Basketball Centre where a scoreboard module, iPad and almost $600 in cash was taken.
At each crime scene, Jabbouri used the same Mitsubishi Outlander, attempted to disguise himself in the same way, and on some occasions used a hammer to smash through the front glass doors.
DNA evidence linking him to the crimes was also found on items left behind.
On Wednesday, the 40-year-old was sentenced in Parramatta District Court to a maximum of six years in jail with a non-parole period of three years, expiring on June 8, 2025.
Judge Hanley found the offences were mainly conducted to fuel Jabbouri's drug addiction as he was taking a cocktail of illicit substances, including ice, cocaine, Xanax, cannabis and alcohol prior to the robberies.
The chef had also been diagnosed with severe post-traumatic stress disorder after repressing childhood sexual abuse for decades, and had been kidnapped and tortured because of his drug debts after becoming addicted to illicit substances.
Prior to his criminal activities, Jabbouri was a fully qualified chef who ran two cafes which he eventually sold to his sister.
The judge found he was genuinely remorseful for his behaviour and had shown he was willing to tackle his drug addiction.
He will now be assessed about his eligibility for the compulsory drug rehabilitation program offered at Cessnock jail where he is incarcerated.
