Serial pub robber was ‘in pressure cooker’
A man who worked as a security guard at Richie Mccaw’s wedding later left a woman with visions of having her ‘‘flesh and blood splattered everywhere’’ after he shot her and her mother following a spree of pub robberies.
Douglas Anderson Roake’s crimes were described by the victims’ family as ‘‘disgusting and cowardly’’ before they saw him jailed for 13 years and eight months for his violent home invasion and six armed robberies through Canterbury.
Deidre Dawson, a relative of the two women Roake shot, asked the Christchurch District Court to hold the 23-year-old accountable for his crimes.
Creighton Dawson, who had a gun pointed at him, told of receiving a call from his mother on the night of April 19, saying: ‘‘There’s a man in the house with a gun.’’
He referred to Roake’s ‘‘cowardly crimes’’ in shooting his sister and mother.
In June, Roake admitted six aggravated robberies, two charges of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and two of presenting a firearm, after a series of armed raids.
Roake robbed the Tavern Harewood, The Brickworks Bar twice, Trevino’s Restaurant and Bar, the Hotel Ashburton, and the Springston Hotel. None of the $115,000 he took in his robberies has been found, except for $2000 he dropped while making one getaway.
He had a clean criminal record before the robberies in March and April and the shootings of Michaela Dawson, 27, and her mother, Nicola Dawson, at their rural home on April 19.
Michaela Dawson, who was shot in the leg during Roake’s home invasion, told the court how she woke up every day thinking about how he shot his way into her home, where she was with her mother and her sleeping 41⁄2-monthold baby.
She was struck with the mallet Roake was wielding, and her mother was shot in front of her.
She had to have skin grafts and the injuries had ruined ‘‘so much for me, including my career’’.
‘‘I have visions of him chasing me around the kitchen, with my flesh and blood splattered everywhere,’’ she said.
Her 53-year-old mother, who was shot in her abdomen, said she was still in pain and discomfort three months later. She no longer felt safe at home.
Roake sat apparently impassive as the eight victim impact statements were read in court. One said the 17-minute armed robbery – including a gun being pointed at people and fired into the ceiling – felt like ‘‘a lifetime’’.
Defence counsel Jonathan Eaton QC said Roake heard the victim statements and was ‘‘extremely conscious of the pain, grief, frustration, anger, and distress his victims feel’’.
His own family members had ‘‘expressed their disbelief, shame, and distress’’ at what he had done.
There was no rational explanation for his actions. It was known he had Asperger’s syndrome and, in the months leading up to the five weeks of offending, he was obsessed with body building and strong-man contests.
He had been heavily abusing testosterone supplements, which could cause aggression, Eaton said. Roake’s spree of armed robberies was to get money to compete in competitions.
Judge Jane Farish said Roake went to his doctor on March 7 and described feeling like being ‘‘in a pressure cooker’’, and being stressed and worried about how to manage his anger. He was prescribed anti-depressants and referred for counselling. Three days later, he commenced his fiveweek spree of serious criminal offending.
His offending had been ‘‘inexplicable’’ and everyone was baffled, she said.