Hamilton armed robber Hone Daniels claimed he was doing his laundry, not robbing a pub

Hone Daniels and two other men stormed The Riv Sports Bar on the night of December 14, 2022, and forced a staff member to open the safe at gunpoint. Photo / Belinda Feek

A man who robbed a sports bar tried to claim it couldn’t have been him because he was busy doing his laundry at the time.

But Hone Daniels was on electronically monitored bail at the time, so the ankle bracelet he was wearing placed him at the scene.

Daniels tried to counter that by saying he was at the nearby laundromat but his alibi efforts have been described as “ingenious but ineffectual”.

A judge, sentencing Daniels after a jury found him guilty of the Hamilton robbery, has even labelled it as “entertaining”.

“Of course, that was rejected by the jury, and equally, I found it more entertaining than anything that type of defence was being run,” Judge Tini Clark told him in the Hamilton District Court yesterday.

“As I say, ingenious, but ineffectual.”

Daniels was the only one of the three involved to be convicted of the aggravated robbery.

‘A very well planned robbery’

The court heard that on the evening of December 14, 2022, three people, including Daniels, entered The Riv Sports Bar through a back entrance.

One was carrying a pistol, which was used to force the female staff member to open the bar’s safe.

At the time, the bar was open, and there were patrons inside.

The staff member was held at gunpoint until she gathered a large sum of money, around $10,000, the judge said.

“From my recollection, this was a very well planned event and it’s important that I point that out because in essence, there was no ability to connect, forensically, the individuals, so successful was their disguise.”

That disguise included masks and gloves.

However, Daniels was on electronically monitored bail at the time, and, while he had an “ingenious” defence, the jury didn’t fall for it.

Hone Daniels was sentenced in the Hamilton District Court.

Daniels, through his counsel, told the jury that he was travelling in a different vehicle but just happened to be in the bar’s car park at the time of the robbery as he and a friend had been at the nearby laundromat.

It was also a coincidence that after the robbery, the same vehicle travelled to a Sapphire Pl property.

Judge Clark said she had “no difficulty” accepting the jury’s guilty verdict on a charge of aggravated robbery.

‘He wants to turn his life around’

While pointing out there was minimal violence used in the robbery, defence counsel Melissa James said she wasn’t trying to minimise her client’s actions.

However, Judge Clark was quick to point out that there “didn’t need to be a huge amount of direct violence because they had a gun”.

Around $10,000 was taken from the bar during the robbery. Photo / Belinda Feek

As for discounts, James pushed for 10 to 15% for her client’s background, including the death of his mother at a young age.

It was from then, she said, that Daniels’ life began changing and he began “getting closer to those who have an anti-social mindset”.

He joined a gang when he was about 19 and then began “making regular appearances in court and incarceration”.

But Judge Clark noted that at least up until his mother died, his upbringing seemed “pretty standard”.

Even then, he went on to get a sports and fitness certificate before gaining work.

James submitted that Daniels no longer wanted to keep coming to court, and had recently completed a rehabilitative course while on remand.

“Nothing has really slowed down his offending behaviour over the years,” the judge said.

She found that between being found guilty in February and Daniels’ sentencing, he had not made any marked changes.

“He has been off the rails for most of his adult life, so why would I have faith at this juncture that there is some significant change that I can recognise?

“Looking at his previous [history] ... it’s mostly about dishonesty and taking things that don’t belong to him. Nothing has really changed.”

‘This has upended the victim’s life’

Judge Clark noted the armed robbery was now Daniels’ most serious conviction.

“Mr Daniels does need to take responsibility for the way that he has chosen to live his life,” she said.

As for the victim, the judge noted the incident had “both a short-term and long-term effect on her”.

She quit her job at the bar as she no longer felt safe.

“That really upended her life,” the judge said.

Judge Clark took a starting point of six years and six months, and, after applying discounts for Daniels’ upbringing and rehabilitative efforts, she jailed him for five years and 10 months.

Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for 10 years and has been a journalist for 21.