The money stolen from Magpies Sports Bar was estimated to be between $6000 and $16,000. Photo / File
The money stolen from Magpies Sports Bar was estimated to be between $6000 and $16,000. Photo / File
A man will mark his 33rd birthday in jail on Friday after being sentenced to four-and-a-half years for his part in a two-man, gunpoint robbery of the Magpies Sports Bar in central Hastings 10 months ago.
Nuia Henare Makoare, of Hastings, was sentenced on Tuesday by Judge Tony Adeane inNapier District Court, having admitted a charge of aggravated robbery in which he brandish a sawn-off shotgun at a female attendant after entering the open King St premises about midday on Friday, June 1, last year.
A charge against co-accused Taurus Christy, also of Hastings, was dismissed after an application by defence counsel Matthew Phelps who argued there was no evidence to place Christy at the scene and the nearest connection was that he was possibly in a vehicle which was later connected with the raid.
Makoare was arrested after an armed police stakeout around the Star Flats off Karamu Rd a short distance from the robbery scene and soon after the raid.
Christy, who had already been on the police "wanted" list, was not arrested until he was stopped near Wellington on June 10, in a vehicle which had been reported stolen in Hastings.
A summary detailed how Makoare and an associate stole a car from a Napier street and used it in the robbery two days later, parking it in King St before heading into the bar, disguised with hoodies over their heads, hats, sunglasses and gloves.
While nine people were in the gaming area, no one was in the bar apart from the attendant, who was at the counter when Makoare approached, pointed the gun and demanded money.
The associate went behind the bar and stashed cash from till in a bag he had carried into the premises and then walked into a walk-in safe and removed more money — while Makoare kept the shotgun pointed at the staff member.
Armed police around a block of Hastings flats during a manhunt after last winter's robbery of the Magpies Sports Bar. Photo/File
The associate pushed the woman into the walk-in safe where she banged her head against a steel shelf and was momentarily stunned before the robbers fled and drove in the stolen car, which they swapped soon afterwards with a car that belonged to Makoare's mother and on which the robbers had changed the number plates.
Makoare was recognised as he ignored an armed police officer and drove through a police cordon soon afterwards, but was arrested after the car was abandoned near the flats. As well as aggravated robbery, Makoare admitted a charge of unlawfully taking a motor vehicle.
Christy pleaded guilty to firearms, theft, and driving charges related to the events nine days after the robbery, which included two pursuits, one abandoned by police as he hit speeds up to 130km/h and the other as police used a helicopter to track his path into Wellington. He was remanded in custody for sentencing in June.
The money stolen from the bar was estimated to be between $6000 and $16,000.
