JURY TOLD PUB ROBBERY WAS: AN INSIDE JOB

Two out of three people accused of the aggravated robbery of Onerahi Tavern admit being at the pub that night - but say it was an "inside job" with the bar manager in on the theft.
The trial of brothers Wiri Poai Pugh, 32 and Royce Dean Pugh, 20, and Roberta Alison Henry, 29, started in Whangarei District Court yesterday.
They are jointly charged with robbing the Onerahi Tavern of $44,353 on July 22, 2007.
The trial, which could run into next week, is being heard before Judge Robert Kerr and a six-man, six-woman jury.
Crown prosecutor Nicole Dore said the Pugh brothers were the principal offenders, entering the tavern on July 22 armed with knives and covering their faces with bandannas. Ms Dore said Henry was a party to the robbery as their getaway driver.
She said the Pugh brothers went to the tavern about 11pm and one of them approached the two staff still there - bar manager Marion Hakaraia and bar worker Tanya Munro - who were outside having a cigarette and drink at the end of their shifts.
Ms Dore said a man disguised with a hoodie and bandanna then ordered the pair to go inside the tavern where they were joined by another man, shoving and locking Ms Munro into a storage cupboard before making Ms Hakaraia open two safes in the office.
She said all three accused had admitted to police they were involved but said it was a set-up they had organised with Ms Hakaraia and possibly another staff member.
Ms Hakaraia has not been arrested nor will she be a witness in the trial. She is now living in Australia.
In his opening statement lawyer Eb Leary, for Royce Pugh, said there was no robbery that night.
"It's what's known in life as an inside job, whereby the two women who were part and parcel of an agreement with Wiri Pugh, who in turn solicited Royce Pugh, to join him in an inside job and the easy theft of money from the Onerahi Tavern," Mr Leary said. "It wasn't a very honourable thing to do but theft is what it is. There's a whale of a difference between a so-called aggravated robbery and theft of money so easily obtained at the hotel in question."
Lawyer Chris Muston, for Wiri Pugh, said his client acknowledged he was there that night, but as it was a "sham" robbery, arranged with Ms Hakaraia, there were no threats or violence used, which was needed for aggravated robbery to be proved.
"The alleged robbery was a sham and the show put on for the benefit of the security cameras," Mr Muston said.
In her evidence Ms Munro denied having any prior knowledge of the robbery or being involved in any discussion with Ms Hakaraia or Wiri Pugh about robbing the tavern.
Under cross-examination from Mr Muston she denied receiving $8500 from Wiri Pugh as her share of the stolen money.
Ms Munro said an hour or two before the robbery Henry came into the tavern to talk to Ms Hakaraia but thought the conversation was about paying off Henry's bar tab.
Ms Munro said she and Ms Hakaraia went to their home town of Foxton three days after the robbery, but that trip had been arranged weeks previously as Ms Hakaraia wanted to see her family before she left for Australia.
Under cross-examination from Mr Leary, Ms Munro said she was aware that police initially believed she could be involved in the robbery, but it did not concern her as she knew she had no involvement in it.