The teenage son of two New Zealand yachties has pleaded guilty to robbing a North Queensland shopkeeper while pretending to be armed with a gun.
Luke William Mayall, 19, sparked an international manhunt which culminated in his arrest near Auckland in November, 2007, the Cairns Post newspaper reported.
The teenager had been missing for a year at the time of his arrest. His parents, two New Zealand yacht owners in Queensland, reported him missing a week before a hold-up at an Innisfail store.
Yesterday, the 19-year-old pleaded guilty in Cairns District Court to robbing shopkeeper Ellen Norman at the Palmerston Drive store on October 12, 2006, while pretending to be armed with a pistol.
The teen also pleaded guilty to charges of using violence to enter the dwelling of an Innisfail man while pretending to be armed and depriving the man of his liberty.
