Cigarette sellers’ safety fears

The robbing of two stores within two hours has compounded worries about the safety of people who sell cigarettes as the Government continues to force up prices with tax hikes.

Dairy owners are calling for Government intervention and tougher punishments after a spate of robberies around the country.

And ACT leader David Seymour has said the Government should use the money it makes from cigarette taxes on making sure vendors have better security – an idea that has some support from dairy owners.

The BP service station in Pahiatua’s Main St was robbed at 9.40pm on Sunday – just 80 minutes after a robbery in Whanganui.

Detective Sergeant Grayson Joines said the woman who stormed the Pahiatua store with a knife took cigarettes and cash.

Two attendants and another person were in the store at the time, but no-one was injured.

Hardy Patel was working when the robbery happened and said he locked himself in a safe room.

He was back at work the following day and said he just treated it as another day.

In Whanganui, two offenders – one with a firearm – entered the Fitzherbert Ave dairy in Springvale.

The owner was injured after a scuffle broke out and was taken to Whanganui Hospital, where he was treated and discharged.

The offenders stole cash and cigarettes and then fled the scene in a stolen vehicle, which has since been found.

One of Seymour’s ideas was that vendors could have single cigarette pack dispensers.

Z Energy has announced it will lock away tobacco in single pack dispensers at 50 Auckland petrol stations – a move that will cost it $1 million.

This could stop multiple packets being stolen at the same time.

Patel thought a vending machine for cigarettes was a good idea. ‘‘A vending machine would be the safest way.’’

The vice president of the New Zealand Indian Central District Association, Paul Patel, said he did not believe the Government was taking the issue seriously enough. ‘‘It’s on the increase. ‘‘Tax on them [cigarettes] has made the issue because the cost for such a small item is so high.’’

Paul Patel said ACT needed to talk to dairy owners and shop owners and see what they actually wanted.

More information was needed on the dispensers and he doubted they would stop robbers.

‘‘They are going to come in for cash. It’s not just the one item; it’s always cigarettes and the cash, and the cash is far easier.’’

Rangiora Ave Mini Market owner Jayesh Patel wanted to see harsher punishments for offenders.

He felt youth offenders weren’t being punished enough and some sentences were too short.

But he did think the vending machine idea could work.

‘‘As long as the Government had them installed and paid for it, it would probably be a yes.’’

Manhar Patel, the owner of the Summerhays Corner Superette in Palmerston North, was robbed in 2015 and also thought harsher punishments were needed.

One of the men who robbed the Summerhays store, Demrus Edwards, was sentenced in the Palmerston North District Court in May to three years and four months’ jail for aggravated robbery. ‘‘The New Zealand justice system is just so soft,’’ Manhar Patel said.

Concerning the Whanganui robbery, police want to hear from anyone who may have been in the Springvale area and seen anything suspicious.

They want to know of any sightings of a white 1993 Toyota Corolla and a small silver car seen being overtaken by the Toyota immediately after the robbery.

Anyone with any information about the robberies could give information anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.