A robber who car-jacked a 61-year-old man at knifepoint has been sent to jail for more than three years.
Kushal Chand, 19, of no fixed abode, was yesterday sentenced in the Rotorua District Court to three and a half years' jail after pleading guilty last month to a charge of aggravated robbery in relation to the car-jacking.
He also admitted a charge of theft, five charges of fraud, two charges of unlawfully taking motor vehicles and a charge of dangerous driving.
Chand had been walking along Horomatangi St on May 3 when he jumped into the front passenger seat of a parked Honda Accord.
He pulled a knife on the man in the driver's seat who had been waiting to pick his wife up from work. Chand pushed the knife against the man's ribs and ordered the victim to get out of the car.
The man said "what" before Chand again told him to "get out".
The man undid his seatbelt and got out of the vehicle, before kicking Chand twice as Chand climbed over the middle console. The man tried to take the keys out of the ignition but was cut on the hand by Chand. The man backed off as a panicked Chand reversed out of the carpark and sped down Horomatangi St.
The court was told that it was only by luck the victim was not seriously injured and he had dealt with the incident particularly well.
The next morning Chand was driving the stolen car on State Highway One, near Meremere, at about 170km/h before crashing into a bank on the edge of the highway. Chand was caught by police.
He admitted stealing the car, but denied using a knife. He had wanted to get to Auckland but didn't have the money. Chand also stole two cars from Hastings before the Taupo incident, stolen a wallet and tried five times to withdraw money using bankcards which were in the wallet.
Judge Phillip Cooper said Chand, a Fijian Indian, had previously moved to New Zealand. He had been involved in prospecting for a gang in Hastings.
The court was told Chand's partner was already in jail. The couple had a six-month-old child in the care of Child Youth and Family and Chand had very little family support. The reparation owed for damage to the cars was more than $11,000 but Chand was not able to pay it.
Chand was under the influence of cannabis and methamphetamine.
"This is another case of serious offending carried out by people in the grip of methamphetamine," Judge Cooper said. He noted that if it had not been for Chand's guilty pleas he would have been facing a prison term of five years.
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