TV show finalist robbed petrol station
A man who tried to rob a Palmerston North petrol station, but had his loot snatched back by the attendant, can now be revealed as an entertainer who came close to winning New Zealand’s Got Talent. Joshua Samuel Edwards, 26, pleaded guilty in the Palmerston North District Court in June to the aggravated robbery of Mobil Pioneer Highway. However, he could not be named at the time as his lawyer wanted to investigate extending an interim suppression order. That order expired at 5pm yesterday. Edwards was 16 years old when, known as Joshy, he made it to the finals of New Zealand’s Got Talent in 2008 with his inventive beatboxing skits. He got into rapping soon after, and became a regular busker on Palmerston North streets, often seen on a corner of The Square freestyling to pre-recorded beats. In a 2013 interview with Stuff,
‘‘It’s hard to find a job . . . and if I sell drugs I’ll get put in jail.’’
Joshua Samuel Edwards in 2013
soon after he took up rapping, he said he busked to make money and educate people about what rapping could be. ‘‘It’s hard to find a job these days, it’s hard to get on the dole and if I sell drugs I’ll get put in jail,’’ he said at the time. ‘‘[Rapping] is far better.’’ A summary of facts was not available at the time Edwards pleaded guilty to the robbery, but police previously said the offender went to the station on the night of June 3 and demanded money. The attendant handed over cash – court documents put it at $270 – but snatched it back before the offender, armed with a box cutter, left. Edwards is in custody and due to be sentenced in August.