‘Give me everything you have’
In each of the robberies, various members of the group filmed the incidents and posted the footage onto social media, including Instagram and TikTok.
The Edinburgh Superette in Hillcrest was the first to be hit at 8.37am on New Year’s Day last year.
Nepson and four other masked and armed co-offenders turned up in a car stolen from a nearby property.
Entering the store first with a screwdriver, Nepson approached the lone store attendant and said, “give me everything you have”.
The victim managed to lock himself in the rear of the shop while Nepson slid over the counter and began ripping out cigarettes from the cabinet and passing them to his co-offenders - who had hammers and tyre irons - and ferried them back to their car.
They also ripped the till out, smashed drink and freezer doors along with the security camera and footage display television.
They left after about 90 seconds, grabbing ice creams and voucher cards on their way out.
The group had a break for a few days before targeting the Wayward Pidgeon while it was still closed at 3.45am on January 5, and stealing alcohol.
By 4.30am, Nepson and his associates had driven to Huntly and smashed their way through the glass front of Countdown.
When they noticed the three staff members inside, the group began leaving before changing their minds and heading back in, with one picking up a metal pole.
They tried to smash their way into the cigarette displays, without luck, before grabbing three tills and leaving in another stolen vehicle.
They drove to Morrinsville and arrived at the Gull service station at 6.30am.
The group ran into the store, pushing the staff member out of their way, and stealing vapes and junk food before fleeing.
At 7.20am they targeted the Morrinsville Mobil, pushing the shopkeeper to the ground, and again stealing vape items, tobacco products, and two tills before fleeing.
‘Got involved with undesirables’
Nepson’s counsel, Rosalind Brown, told Judge Clark her client came from a good home but he got involved with “undesirable associates” while living in emergency housing with one of his parents when they separated.
He then began making “poor life choices”, while his koro (grandfather or male family elder) and nana died.
Judge Clark said losing close family members was not unusual and wouldn’t normally constitute a discount.
She told Brown he’d need to have suffered “genuine hardship” for her to take time off an impending jail sentence.
Brown said the loss of his koro hit Nepson hard, as for him he was his “sense of belonging, and sense of mana”.
Nepson had also written a remorse letter and had shown insight into the impact his actions had on his victims.
But crown prosecutor Kasey Dillon was sceptical of Nepson’s letter, stating that he had moved in with his koro but found it too hard, so he moved back in with one of his parents.
Both his parents had “countless conversations to try and get him back into line”.
“This is a young man making reckless decisions.”
He urged Judge Clark not to issue any discount for Nepson’s upbringing or remorse.
“I don’t accept that writing a letter amounts to the level of remorse to attract a discreet discount.
“This is ... a person who says he is sorry for what he did but lacks insight into how that makes others feel.”
‘You won’t be in a position to make reparation'
While police sought reparation for the victims, given she was jailing Nepson Judge Clark said she couldn’t “see how you are going to be in a position to make reparation”.
“It is of course important to acknowledge the harm you have caused.”
While there was no exact total for the damage caused, or products stolen, “thousands” of cash was stolen from tills, $2000 damage was caused to a stolen car, and more than $7000 in repairs and products stolen during a burglary at Noel Leeming in Lower Hutt.
“These are real people. Everything that you have done has affected someone somewhere along the line,” she told him.
“I think it’s important that you understand that.”
Nepson was also disqualified from driving for six months on a charge of reckless driving.
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.
