A jewellery thief, who hit a man in the face with a hammer as he fled the scene, has admitted the charges against him.
Ora Neilson, a 22-year-old Mount Wellington man, appeared in Auckland District Court this morning where he pleaded guilty to counts of theft and aggravated wounding, after an incident at Sylvia Park mall on May 26.
It can now be revealed Neilson was previously jailed for six months over a booze-fuelled joyride in 2012.
He and a friend stole a Subaru, which ploughed through a fence and into the side of a storage shed facility north of Wanganui.
Neilson lost two front teeth in the smash but fled the scene, leaving his injured mate behind.