A teenager who robbed two Hastings craft shops earlier this year while eight months pregnant was yesterday sentenced to seven years in prison. Tekura Lulu Henry, 18, appeared in the Napier District Court on two charges of aggravated robbery, three of aggravated wounding and one each of assault, theft and dishonestuse of a credit card. The court heard Henry entered the Happy Crafts shop in the Hastings CBD early on the afternoon of April 1, carrying a plastic water pistol wrapped in a paper bag with only its barrel protruding. She forced the lone female shop assistant out to the rear of the shop, tying her hands and later gagging the woman with a towel. Henry took the shop's takings and cash from the woman's purse. A week later she robbed the Ebony Knights shop, this time wearing a beanie with eye holes cut out and armed with a knife as well as the water pistol. She held the knife to the 44-year-old attendant's throat, telling her not to move or she would be killed. She stole the shop's takings and from the woman's handbag. Police had few leads on the robber's identity until Henry targeted another craft shop in July, this time in Taupo. She pinned the lone 73-year-old store attendant to the ground and stuffed a jersey into her mouth, while pinching the woman's nostrils shut. Judge Geoff Rea said if Henry had not been interrupted by a customer entering the store, she could have been facing attempted murder charges. Henry told police she may have done it but couldn't remember. She pleaded guilty in the Napier District Court on November 8. Judge Rea said Henry's robberies had become increasingly violent as time went on. He set a minimum non-parole period of four years, with one year's prison for each of the other charges, to be served concurrently.
