Good Samaritan attacked in robbery ‘tried to play hero’
‘‘It all went very wrong, very fast, when a member of the public entered the shop and tried to play hero.’’
Those are the words of a man who took part in the armed robbery of an Invercargill Night ‘n Day, where an intervening man was stabbed.
The 38-year-old Invercargill man, who has name suppression, was sentenced to three years and eight months in jail for aggravated robbery, wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and two theft charges, after the July 30, 2020 incident.
The defendant had earlier pleaded guilty, and when he appeared for sentencing in the Invercargill District Court yesterday, he was also ordered to pay $250 for emotional harm to each of two victims and $283.15 total for a car, petrol and cash he took.
A co-accused man has pleaded not guilty and elected trial by jury.
The man jailed yesterday admitted stealing a car at Invercargill’s Pork Pie Lane and stealing petrol from a service station near the Night ‘n Day before acting as lookout when the codefendant allegedly went into the dairy about 9.20pm.
The court heard the co-defendant had a knife and imitation pistol and demanded cash from the 17-year-old girl working by herself in the store.
A 33-year-old member of the public saw the incident and told the alleged robber to stop.
The jailed defendant said in a probation pre-sentence report ‘‘it all went very wrong, very fast, when a member of the public entered the shop and tried to play hero’’.
A struggle ensued and the member of the public was stabbed in the abdomen with a 30 centimetre knife, which struck his bowel, Judge Bernadette Farnan said.
The defendant had been the lookout but came into the store, punched the member of the public twice before the men ran out, but returned to grab the bag of cash.
Police found the getaway car about an hour later, the defendant’s DNA on the knife and the clothes which he accepted he and the other man had worn in disguise, the judge said. The stabbed man was in a serious condition in hospital, but later recovered.
The defendant was arrested 13 days after the incident, refused to make a statement and denied involvement.
He had played a lesser role but did punch the victim and went back for the money, the judge said.
The defendant had 19 violence related convictions and a cultural report found a loss of identity, a lack of education and health support and a lack of wha¯ nau.
The defendant was given a final warning under the three-strikes law for violent offending.
His jail sentence was discounted 55 per cent for reasons including guilty pleas and willingness to do restorative justice.