Man jailed for knife hold-up at Latham St store

A Hawke's Bay man has been jailed for aggravated robbery.

A Hawke's Bay man who brandished a knife at a shop assistant has been jailed.

Richard Poi, 20, was last week jailed for two years 10 months for aggravated robbery.

He was also issued a second strike under the three strikes legislation, meaning he will serve the sentence in full without the possibility of parole.

Poi, went into the Latham St Superette on June 21 armed with a knife, the Napier District Court heard.

He told the shop assistant he could not speak English and then held out a knife with a blade of 20 to 25cm long as he walked behind the counter.

The scared woman ran out a back door to find help.

Poi stole $800 worth of cigarettes and took off.

In sentencing, Judge Bridget Mackintosh said Poi had been on synthetic cannabis the day he committed the crime. He was also subject to release conditions at the time. The Judge said the victim now felt uncomfortable in her work place and had trouble trusting people who entered the shop.

Poi, who was 19 at the time he offended, has "quite a history" of offending, Judge Mackintosh said.

Two years ago he was convicted for jumping on the bonnet of a police car and kicking in its windscreen outside the Napier Court House. He did this just a week after being released from prison where he was serving time for charges of wilful damage, theft, disorderly behaviour and misuse of a credit card.

Last week, Poi was also convicted and discharged on wilful damage charges.