Armed robbery charges dropped for notorious criminal who held restaurant worker at gunpoint
A notorious Melbourne criminal will not face trial over a terrifying hold up at a CBD restaurant.
John Lindrea had been facing charges of armed robbery that occurred in 2019 at Cecconi’s Italian eatery.
He had been accused of pointing a gun at a worker in the restaurant during the robbery and saying, “just do what you’re told, and you won’t get hurt”.
The restaurant employees was reportedly forced to kneel on the floor facing the cellar door, before being locked in the cellar without his phone.
The court heard that Lindrea and another man were rummaging through a safe in an office area when the restaurant’s director walked in and demanded they leave.
Lindrea then allegedly pointed the gun at her face and said: “if you don’t f---ing shut up, I’ll blow your head off.”
$33,981 in cash was allegedly taken, however $15,000 was dropped as they left.
Lindrea, who is currently in a maximum-security jail over other offences, will not be prosecuted over the robbery at Cecconi’s.
Charges against him have been discontinued according to a Victorian Police spokeswoman.
Lindrea’s criminal record goes back for more than 30 years.
In 1995, he was caught trying to break out of maximum-security Barwon Prison with underworld figure Christopher Dean Binse.
Irit Jackson, 28th September 2021
