Whangārei daylight aggravated robbery: Dairies are turning into chicken cages, says the owner

Daylight robbery at gunpoint at Maunu Superette took place on Tuesday. Photo / Michael Cunningham

A frightened father and Whangārei business owner held at gunpoint during an aggravated robbery this week, feels dairy owners are the most overlooked people in the community.

The owner of Maunu superette, who did not wish to be named, questions whether Government ministers and MPs have ever been to a dairy and says dairies are turning into chicken cages as they try to protect themselves from repeated robberies.

He is frustrated by what he sees as a lack of support from government agencies, saying his was the fifth dairy robbery in Whangārei last month.

"We are living like chickens, packed and shut in our cages, and that is the only solution to these increasing aggravated robberies," the dairy owner said.

Although he had seen multiple small-scale thefts and shoplifting in the past, this was the first time someone pointed a gun him. The frightening ordeal for him and his family happened at 6pm on Tuesday.

They were able to flee to safety and successfully triggered the store's fog cannon as they escaped but did not prevent the offenders taking cigarettes worth up to $10,000.

Luckily, his wife had just left the shop to check something inside the house, while their children were about to enter the shop when the robbery happened.

"6pm is a busy hour and our car park [in front of the shop] had just been vacated.

"It is usually the time when we refill our drinks and our kids help us with it. I am just glad both my kids were inside the house at the time. My daughter was so scared she couldn't sleep at night."

The family received huge support from customers and the wider community on Facebook but he said it felt like they were the "most overlooked" people in the community.

He said it seemed like nobody in power cared about the ordeals dairy owners went through and the trauma armed robberies left.

''A broad daylight robbery at gunpoint just proves these people are not scared of the justice system or of getting caught."

And when they were caught, he said, they were given light sentences that did not reflect the harm they had caused.

The man said they did not have an option but to continue working despite a threat to their life, because "we have a family to feed and we have never been compensated by the Government or the justice system".

"It is not easy to run a dairy shop; we work 14 hours a day, seven days a week, have no social life, just to serve the community. We do not receive any help or reimbursement from the government, nor to us or our kids.

"The last time we suffered the loss, and because our [insurance] excess is $2500, which goes out of our pockets, it just was not worth the trouble.

"Basically, we do not get any help from the human rights department, government, insurance, police or law. No one [in power] really cares about our mental health.

"We will have to open the shop; do the same thing we were doing as nothing happened. In fact, we lose sales on top of the robbery, as the shop remains closed for almost a day or two while the forensics team do their job.''

Police are appealing for sightings of a 2003 Mazda Atenza (pictured) on Tuesday, November 30 in the Maunu and Raumanga areas. Photo / NZ Police

He said the only solution was to start caging themselves in to protect them from the robbers - and many have already started doing that.

A police spokesperson said the three youths involved in the robbery fled in a stolen 2003 Mazda Atenza parked nearby.

The car was dumped shortly afterwards less than 4km away in Hedley Pl in Raumanga.

"Police are keen to speak to anyone who may have seen this silver Mazda Atenza in the Maunu area during the day of the robbery or anywhere between the Maunu Superette and Hedley Place after the robbery."

Anyone with information can anonymously phone Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or call 105 and quote file number 211130/3798.

Tuesday's aggravated robbery followed armed robberies at Destination (Riverside) dairy, Onerahi Foodmart - twice - and Young's supermarket (Mill's Rd) last month.