Hamilton shoplifter Kenneth Waaka threatens to rape Specsavers staffer during theft

Shoplifter Kenneth Waaka threatened to rape and kill a Hamilton Specsavers staff member while stealing six pairs of glasses, in one of several incidents days apart last year. Photo / Belinda Feek

A drunken shoplifter threatened to rape and kill a Specsavers staff member as he stormed out of the store with more than $2000 worth of glasses.

A more sober Kenneth Nikora Waaka, 44, appeared via audio-visual link in the Hamilton District Court this morning where he admitted href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/public-interest-open-justice/" target="_self">multiple theft charges after a series of incidents targeted at spectacle stockists in Hamilton.

Waaka had already been trespassed from Centre Place shopping centre when he strolled back into OPSM about 1.20pm on October 26 last year.

He selected seven pairs of sunglasses from a display stand before walking out without paying.

When confronted by security and asked to pay for them, he crushed three pairs in his hand, causing $2377 worth of damage.

He then walked out of Centre Place across the road towards Specsavers.

There, he nabbed four pairs of prescription glasses, worth $1656, from a display stand before walking out without paying.

Waaka returned to the same store early on October 27 and was greeted by a staff member who took him to see the victim who was in another part of the store.

He then made derogatory comments, “I want to pull your ponytail” and “f*** you”, and about wanting to touch a work colleague’s bottom.

Court documents state the victim was “shocked by these comments and how gross they were”.

Waaka then stole six pairs of prescription glasses from a display stand before walking out, again without paying.

However, as he left, he threatened to rape and kill the victim before saying, “I can do whatever I want to you”, and “You owe me whatever I can take”.

During the incident, Waaka appeared intoxicated and “smelt strongly of alcohol, and his speech was slurred”.

The glasses were worth $2394 and were not recovered.

Waaka was arraigned this morning on three charges of theft over $1000, wilful trespass, and threatening behaviour.

He was convicted by Judge Kim Saunders and remanded in custody to reappear for sentencing in June.

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.