‘Pizza bandit was no Robin Hood’

He knew how food delivery drivers worked, having been one himself, when he planned how to rob them of food and money.

He picked fake addresses and lurked at the end of driveways waiting for his unsuspecting victims to show up with hot food and cash.

Then he assaulted them or pulled a knife before taking the goods and running.

For months he preyed on the drivers, keeping the cash and giving the food to homeless people.

Wellington District Court judge Bill Hastings yesterday jailed Matice Huiterangiora

Wikitera-Campus for four years and said he could rightfully be called the pizza bandit.

‘‘But you should take no pleasure in that, you should be ashamed of it.’’

He said Wikitera-Campus, 20, had previously worked as a pizza delivery person and knew how it worked.

He would call in food orders to places such as Domino’s, Hell Pizza and Pizza Hut and arrange for deliveries to a secluded and often dark area.

He gave a fake name and address, then waited nearby.

Delivery drivers would show up and Wikitera-Campus would threaten, punch or push them before taking the cash they were carrying. He would also take the food.

Most orders were made online and of a large amount, sometimes over $100 worth of takeaways.

A Hell Pizza driver went to deliver to a remote address in Houghton Bay. WikiteraCampus told him he wanted the cash and kicked him in the groin.

When the victim tried to run off, he threw the cash bag at Wikitera-Campus to distract him.

Wikitera-Campus started off in September 2019 physically assaulting people but moved on to using a knife to threaten them, believing having the knife would make violence less likely.

When police caught up with him he said he was desperate for food and money and used the knife to intimidate the delivery drivers. He pleaded guilty to four charges of aggravated robbery, two of robbery and two of theft.

The judge said Wikitera-Campus put planning and premeditation into the crimes, thinking about locations, escape routes and about when he would escalate it with a knife.

‘‘You enjoyed your offending even though you acknowledged that it angered or traumatised the victims. You expressed neither concern nor pride in what you had done.

‘‘They [the drivers] do not know what awaits them when they approach the front door and you took advantage of the vulnerability.’’

The pandemic had not taken hold then but now it was even more important that food paid for got delivered, the judge said.

‘‘The fact that you took comfort in using the pizzas to feed homeless people in no way offsets the psychological harm. You were no Robin Hood,’’ he told Wikitera-Campus.

He called it a pattern of repeated destructive behaviour by an otherwise young first offender partly driven by boredom, a limited empathy for others and a desire for money, excitement and enjoyment.

Wikitera-Campus’ lawyer, Brett Crowley, said his client was an articulate and intelligent man who had no previous convictions. He said it was a tragedy, both for the victims and for the young man with so much potential.

Crowley said his client was unable to provide any insight into why the offending had happened at all.

‘‘You enjoyed your offending even though you acknowledged that it . . . traumatised the victims.’’

Bill Hastings

Wellington District Court judge