By JAMES GARDINER
A man awaiting sentencing for three armed robberies walked out of Auckland Hospital's acute mental health unit this week, stole a car and held up a North Shore service station, threatening to stab the attendant.
This was one of the 13 robberies nationwide in the past week.
The case has left police furious but will not comment because other Government departments were involved and because the 28-year-old man they arrested last November for robbing another service station, a pharmacy and a bank on the same day is now back before the courts.
The man's parents are also believed to be upset at the failure in the system, although they are not talking either. It was their car that he stole.
Two weeks ago, the North Shore District Court made it a condition of the man's bail that he attend a drug rehabilitation programme and reside at the privately run Odyssey House. Odyssey House staff would not say when or why he moved from there.
When he appeared in court again this week he was remanded in custody for a psychological evaluation.
The manager of Auckland Hospital's Conolly Unit, Karla Bergquist, said the unit was not a secure facility. If that was what was required, the man should have been sent to the Mason Clinic, but it was full.
The man threatened the lone attendant at Caltex on Constellation Drive, Sunset North, on Tuesday night and got away with $110. Although no knife was produced, the attendant, an elderly man, was described as "very shaken". He received counselling from Victim Support.
Police caught the robber in Albany after a car chase.
Karla Bergquist said the Conolly Unit was not equipped to detain people and was not considered a secure facility.
The man had been in its intensive care area, where there was more supervision. But the area was small and the unit's resources meant it had to prioritise who was in that area, so the man was moved, she said.
"Obviously the police and the family are not happy with the outcome - and obviously we're not."
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