A judge has told a man who failed to take his medication and went on to rob a Tokoroa bank at knifepoint that his actions could not be tolerated, even though he was mentally ill.
Justice Morris yesterday jailed Lewis Jack Tuia, 30, unemployed, from Auckland, for five years for the aggravated robbery of the National Bank in Tokoroa on December 7 last year.
Tuia admitted the charge, plus two counts of stealing a motor vehicle on December 7.
The High Court at Rotorua heard earlier that Tuia held a knife, similar to a butter knife, to a teller's chest. He demanded money and left with $4280, $895 of which is still outstanding.
Sentencing Tuia, Justice Morris said: "Anyone who goes to a bank and holds a knife to a teller requires a substantial period of prison."
Defence counsel Peter Hardie said a doctor's report described Tuia as mentally unwell at the time of the robbery. He was hallucinating and heard voices in his head prompting him to rob the bank.
Tuia was released on bail in January and had since been staying at a special supervised home in Auckland where he had taken his schizophrenia medication each day and had not committed any crimes, Mr Hardie said.
Justice Morris, responding, said: "He (Tuia) walks into a bank, holds a knife to the teller's chest, gets the money, steals a car, the car breaks down, he steals another car, he dumps his jacket (which he was wearing during the robbery) and shaves his head in an attempt to get away with it. I would say he seemed pretty with it."
Justice Morris said Tuia's actions should not be tolerated.
"I hope I speak for other courts across New Zealand. You were mentally unwell but not to such a degree that you weren't able to calculate taking this money and making your escape.
"The knife was not of a dagger class but it was a weapon. The holding up of banks and the use of a knife cannot be tolerated."
The judge deducted two years off his original seven-year sentence for Tuia for his guilty plea on the robbery charge. He did not impose any non-parole period.
He convicted and discharged Tuia on the charges of stealing motor vehicles.
- DAILY POST (ROTORUA)
Mentally ill bank robber jailed for five years
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