Convicted robber Shontayne Solomon was at it again.
In March, the former inmate – whose history of heists included a $124,000 smash-and-grab at an Auckland cellphone store – was seen on CCTV waiting in his car as a group of five males pulled off the violent robbery of a West Auckland clothing and jewellery store.
He then gave one of the bandits a ride after they abandoned a stolen car. In the days that followed, he made arrangements to sell some of the stolen jewellery.
Although Solomon, now 25, has previously been imprisoned for similar offending, a judge gave him a break last week after the long-time gang member expressed a desire to start focusing on family rather than the Bloods – the first step, he hoped, in putting his criminal lifestyle behind him.
“I think that a different you would have placed yourself in the store,” Judge Terence Singh said as Solomon appeared in the dock at Waitākere District Court.
He ordered eight months of home detention, assessing the defendant’s stated wish to change as seemingly “heartfelt”.
The judge also declined the Herald’s application to take a photo of the defendant, noting that Solomon had been looking into laser removal of a gang-related facial tattoo.
Court documents state Solomon had been directed by a “known associate” on the afternoon of March 16 this year to go to a meeting point roughly 1km from Kaysons, a New Lynn retailer focusing on Indian fashion and gold jewellery.
CCTV from the area showed him getting out of his Audi A4 station wagon and talking to the occupants of another car, before the other vehicle drove off.
“Mr Solomon waited ... as directed,” the agreed summary of facts for his case stated.
Minutes later, five masked robbers arrived at Kaysons in a third vehicle – a Toyota that had been stolen from Mt Albert.
“One male stood guard at the store entry, swinging the machete, to prevent anyone from entering or leaving the store,” court documents state.
“One male approached [the owner] at the reception counter and smashed a glass counter with his hammer. He struck [the owner] in the right upper arm with the hammer.”
Two others ran to a separate section of the store, partitioned by a glass wall and door, where the jewellery was on display. They smashed more glass countertops and grabbed the valuables.
The group fled in the stolen car after the store’s fog cannon was deployed, but they managed to grab a number of items, including three gold bracelets with a combined worth of $24,000.
They drove directly to Solomon’s parked car. He drove away with one of the robbers, while four others got out of the stolen vehicle and left in the vehicle they had earlier left parked next to Solomon’s.
Police would later find evidence that Solomon had been making arrangements to sell some of the stolen jewellery in the days that followed.
The Kaysons heist was far from Solomon’s first brush with the law. He had previously been sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment for burglary, with another 20 months stacked on top following the violent robbery of two tourists.
Another robbery charge was filed in 2022.
The burglary charge arose from an incident in which Solomon and others used metal poles to smash their way into Westfield Albany mall after it had closed for the day. They then pried open the roller door at a Spark retail outlet and fled with $124,000 worth of cellphones.
A High Court judge who would later review and reject his appeal noted it was “part of a series of significant commercial burglaries committed by young men, though Mr Solomon was charged with only the one”.
Then, in January 2019, while Solomon was on electronically monitored bail for the burglary charge, he and two “unknown associates” attempted to rob two overseas tourists who were selling their iPhones via Facebook Marketplace.
They arrived at his Glen Eden home after he expressed interest in buying the items, but instead, the group ordered the sellers to hand over the items and their money.
When the tourists refused, one of Solomon’s associates put a gun to a victim’s head and repeated the demand. The victim still refused, and he was punched multiple times in the head before managing to drive away.
Solomon’s lawyer at the time downplayed his involvement, but the sentencing judge disagreed, saying he played an “integral part” as “the muscle”.
During last week’s sentencing for the most recent heist, Judge Singh referred to a written victim impact statement in which the owner of Kaysons said he was traumatised by the incident, which left his arm bruised from the hammer blow.
He said he has dismantled a section of the store that had recently been remodelled – at considerable expense – to showcase the jewellery. He is now afraid it would attract a repeat robbery, he explained.
Although it was not outlined in Solomon’s agreed summary of facts, the owner previously told the Herald that he had also been hit in the cheekbone during the attack and a staff member’s arm was cut by the broken glass.
“I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you,” he recalled one of the robbers repeating over and over.
Since then, he said, he had been unable to sleep well and worried about his staff.
“It just doesn’t feel safe anymore,” he said at the time. “Now we are debating, should we sell gold? Because no one’s going to attack us for clothing.”
Although Solomon was initially charged with robbery for having aided and encouraged the heist, the charge was later reduced to being an accessory after the fact to robbery.
Instead of a 14-year maximum penalty, he faced up to five years’ imprisonment for the accessory charge and up to seven years for receiving stolen goods.
The reduced involvement was a fact Judge Singh emphasised as he calculated the sentence.
Defence lawyer Jenny Verry sought 60% in reductions for her client’s guilty plea, youth, his background, the hardship of a prison sentence on his children and other matters. The end result should be a non-custodial sentence, she argued.
Crown prosecutor Wiremu Te Hiko agreed with some of the discounts but said the proposed 20% reduction for Solomon’s background was too high, given his repeated involvement in the justice system dating back to Youth Court.
“Mr Solomon would be well aware of the consequences of offending from his other sentencings,” he explained, advocating for a custodial sentence.
A probation report also recommended prison, assessing Solomon as presenting a medium risk of further crime and a high risk of harm to others.
But the judge noted that Solomon had largely complied with his electronically monitored bail this time while awaiting sentencing.
It appeared he lost his way again after the death of his mother but he seemed to be back on track, and there was a reasonable chance he would continue to comply with conditions, the judge determined.
“My first inclination was that this had to be a sentence of imprisonment,” he explained, adding that he was persuaded by Solomon’s “wish to leave the gangs behind” and remove the related tattoos.
“That tells me it’s more than just a line you’re throwing at me.”
He also noted that the one-year anniversary of his mother’s death was coming up, at which point there would be an unveiling of her headstone.
“That is important – in fact, it’s critical – for you to be supported by whānau,” the judge said.
In addition to the home detention, he ordered 12 months of post-detention conditions and $3600 in emotional harm reparations to the store owner.
Judge Singh told the defendant he spent “a lot of time grappling with” the sentencing decision.
“Mr Solomon, you tell me if I’ve done the right thing,” the judge implored after announcing his decision. “Is it something I’m going to regret?”
After a short pause, the defendant responded.
“I definitely want to make the changes,” he said.
Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.
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