Woman jailed for fake-gun robbery

A woman who traumatised an elderly Lower Hutt dairy owner with an imitation pistol has been sentenced to 30 months in prison.

Kayla Te Ata Rangi Graham, 28, previously admitted charges of aggravated robbery and aggravated assault stemming from an attack on a Wainuiomata shopkeeper on January 30.

A Hutt News article at the time reported on the trauma Main Street’s Top Hat Dairy owner and operator Nisha Khan, 65, felt immediately following the ordeal.

Speaking in the Hutt Valley District Court during Graham’s sentencing on May 20, Judge John Macdonald said it began shortly after 8pm.

Graham walked past the dairy and waited until the woman was working alone in the store, then entered aiming an imitation pistol at her.

Graham had her believe the gun was real when it was actually a bent windscreen wiper wrapped in cloth.

She demanded cash from the till, but the shopkeeper dashed away and pressed an alarm button.

Graham grabbed some cash and jumped on the counter to pocket cigarettes.

She fell off before attempting to flee the store, but a customer arrived and confronted her.

She threatened to shoot him, but it turned out the man had a military background and quickly realised the gun was a fake.

He ordered Graham to empty her pockets, sparking a scuffle.

She waved a paint scraper and threatened to stab him, then took off. Police caught her soon after, hiding in some bushes about 400 metres away.

Judge Macdonald said he accepted Graham had a ‘‘sad and sorry upbringing’’ that included getting into drugs when she was nine.

She was intoxicated during the robbery and had little memory of events.

Graham had various previous criminal convictions, including for common assault and theft in 2010.

The judge took into account her guilty plea and remorse before sentencing her to two years and six months in prison.