“It’s a very grim report; she is trying to move on, but it would have clearly had an impact on her.”
Judge Gilbert said the victim was vulnerable, alone, there were multiple attackers, a machete was wielded and there was premeditation in the group’s offending.
“I have no doubt this would have been absolutely terrifying for the dairy owner.”
The aggravated robbery
According to the summary of facts, partners Paige Kerr, 26, and Natasha Waiariki, 37, and their co-offenders Levi Le Comte, 19, Malakai Bennett, 18 and Ty Holderness-O’Neill, 18, were at a Christchurch address in June 2025 when they planned the daytime robbery.
Holderness-O’Neill had stolen a car a couple of days earlier.
They left the address in the stolen vehicle and headed for an On The Spot store on Hamill Rd in Halswell.
About 30 minutes later they arrived, with four of them entering the store as Bennett waited in the driver’s seat.
Kerr brandished the machete while the rest of the group demanded money and cigarettes.
Kerr and Holderness-O’Neill jumped the counter and grabbed money, cigarettes, vapes and confectionery goods.
Waiariki also stole a number of items.
Le Comte recorded the robbery on his cellphone.
The group then fled in the stolen car before Bennett drove them back to the address where they were subsequently arrested.
Jail sentences for three of the robbers
At their sentencing, Kerr and Waiariki were each jailed for three years and eight months and given first strike warnings as violent offenders for aggravated robbery.
While Kerr had a moderate list of previous convictions for violence, dishonesty and weapons, a pre-sentence report showed there was some remorse and a “flicker” that he wanted to change, Judge Gilbert said.
Al Williams is an Open Justice reporter for the NZ Herald, based in Christchurch. He has worked in daily and community titles in NZ and overseas for the last 16 years. Most recently he was editor of the Hauraki-Coromandel Post, based in Whangamatā. He was previously deputy editor of the Cook Islands News.
