Kiwibank armed robber jailed over $965

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A man who held up a Palmerston North Kiwibank with a BB gun and made off with $965 in cash was jailed when he appeared for sentencing in Wellington District Court today.

Eugene Salmon, 30, of Upper Hutt, was given a sentence of three years and four months on a charge of aggravated robbery, one charge of reckless operation of a motor vehicle, one charge of failing to stop for a police officer and one charge for failing to report to his parole officer.

The crown said that on April 14, Salmon walked into a Kiwibank in Terrace End, Palmerston North, wearing a bandana and sunglasses, and holding a weapon.

Using a deposit slip, Salmon wrote a note explaining that he had a gun and then, passing the note to the teller, a 60-year-old woman, loudly demanded that she give him the money in the till.

Upon receiving the money, Salmon fled into a vehicle parked in a nearby car park.

He then drove to Feilding to pick up a friend, and while driving back was spotted by police who attempted to stop him for an unrelated traffic violation.

Salmon drove away at speed, and was chased by police for a few minutes before he drove onto the wrong side of the road and crashed into a lamp-post.

He fled the scene of the crash and was arrested in Feilding the following day.

It was later revealed that he had lost most of the stolen money while making his escape.

Defence counsel Robert Stevens said Salmon had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity, and had made every effort to make amends, even writing to the bank teller to apologise and explain his actions.

The robbery was not a sophisticated operation, and was a result of the enormous amount of stress Salmon was under at the time, Mr Stevenson said.

Salmon had also spent several hours outside the bank ensuring there were no customers in at the time at the time of the robbery which, Mr Stevens said, showed he did not want to hurt innocent people.

Crown prosecutor Jo Murdoch said despite the lack of sophistication, the robbery was premeditated.

Although the amount taken was small, the business targeted was a bank and so the payoff was potentially much larger, Ms Murdoch said.

Judge Susan Thomas said she needed to hold Salmon accountable for his actions.

It was also necessary to provide for the interests of the bank teller who, in a victim impact statement, wrote that she still felt traumatised by the incident and suffered regularly from nightmares and anxiety, Judge Thomas said.

However, she praised Salmon for pleading guilty at the first opportunity, and acknowledged that circumstances at the time of the offence had put him under a lot of pressure.

On the charge of aggravated robbery, Judge Thomas sentenced Salmon to three years and four months in prison.

For reckless operation of a motor vehicle and failure to report to a parole officer, Salmon was sentenced to four months each, which were to be served concurrently with the robbery sentence.

For failing to stop for a police officer Salmon was convicted and discharged.

- NZPA