Red Fox Tavern: Jury learn one of the accused committed a prior aggravated robbery

One of the men accused of the infamous fatal 1987 Red Fox Tavern robbery had earlier been convicted of an aggravated robbery in Auckland.

Mark Joseph Hoggart, 60, and a man with name suppression are on trial for the aggravated robbery and murder of its publican, Christopher Bush, in Waikato.

It is alleged the two men stole cheques and cash to the value of just over $36,000 in the armed hold-up at the Maramarua tavern.

Both accused deny the charges.

Mark Joseph Hoggart pictured at the first day of his trial in the High Court at Auckland. Photo / Dean Purcell

Today, the jury learned the man with name suppression had previously spent time in jail for an aggravated robbery in Auckland in the early 1980s.

One of the co-offenders in that crime - Charles Emile Augustus Ross - has been giving evidence in court.

Before he took the stand, however, the jury heard the specifics of the Auckland robbery Ross committed with the unnamed defendant and the help of a third man.

The unnamed accused had two 12-gauge double-barrelled shotguns sawed down with a hacksaw.

He, Ross and the third man planned on waiting until 1am, when a staff member was due to open a vault to store the takings.

The group watched the guests leave, until only socialising employees remained.

The accused was wearing steel-capped boots, black corduroy trousers and three jerseys under a tracksuit top.

The day before he had cut the sleeves of an old purple jersey, fashioning them into two balaclavas for himself and Ross. The third man waited outside.

Once disguised and armed, the pair confronted a barman as he came out through a locked door.

Ross hit the barman on the side of his face with the barrel of his shotgun.

With a shotgun to his back, the barman was forced back inside.

A receptionist and the barman were then forced to lie on the ground, the latter "forcefully" kicked by one of the two offenders.

The barman and receptionist were then marched at gunpoint to an upstairs bar where six or seven employees were playing pool.

All were marched single file back down.

The accused demanded the duty manager open the safe - but in his fear he forgot the combination.

Ross struck him over the head with the butt of the shotgun, the impact causing it to fire above them.

The Red Fox Tavern is on State Highway 2 about an hour's drive south of Auckland. Photo / File

A single shot smashed into the ceiling, shattering a fluorescent light bulb over the employees.

When the vault was finally opened, the robbers fled with $45,432.22, including $31,566.60 in cash.

The man with name suppression threw some of the items off a bridge. The balaclavas were burned.

Ross used his share to buy a $5000 Triumph Trident motorcycle.

All were soon arrested and admitted their roles.

Ross told the court that while in prison there had been talk about how the Red Fox Tavern would be a good target for an aggravated robbery.

Back on the outside, Ross saw the unnamed defendant again.

The trial began on February 9, 2021, in the High Court at Auckland. Photo / File

There was a fear they would be "getting some heat" from the police investigating Bush's death because of the earlier Auckland robbery, the court heard.

Ross claimed the unnamed defendant asked for an alibi and he refused.

He did not want to be involved in any way, the court heard, and was trying to turn over a new leaf in his life.

Crown prosecutor Natalie Walker asked why Ross had not told police at the time about the alibi request or the prison talk, instead providing the information in a new statement in 2018.

Ross said back then he had been trying to distance himself from it.

During the cross-examination defence lawyer Christopher Stevenson said his client never asked for an alibi and questioned if it would be fair to described Ross as a conman.

"No," he replied.

The lengthy trial before jury and Justice Mark Woolford, continues in the High Court at Auckland.