Tougher sentences for 'sadistic' robbers

Dairy robbers can expect harsher sentences from a South Auckland judge who says growing violence is sometimes "little more than sheer sadism".

Judge Roy Wade, a senior judge in the Manukau District Court Manukau, said yesterday he would add an extra year to the starting point for jail terms for criminals who committed aggravated robberies on small business owners.

He said from Monday, that meant five years in jail, instead of the four-year guideline set by the Court of Appeal, the New Zealand Herald reported today.

Local judges have the power to increase sentences to deal with a particular crime.

Judge Wade said aggravated robberies involving violence was the plague of Manukau residents.

He made the comments while sentencing two men for the aggravated robbery of the Riverton Liquor Store, which occurred two months after owner Navtej Singh was fatally shot in the shop.

"Anyone who holds up a retail shop in South Auckland, whether it be a dairy, a liquor store or any other kind of retail premises, is going to go to prison for a very long time," Judge Wade said.

"That will be the case whether they are young or old, and regardless of their personal circumstances. There will rarely be any question of home detention or community detention, and the only issue will be the length of the sentence.

"Therefore, before contemplating doing a hold-up for the sake of a few beers, a few cigarettes or a small amount of cash, the would-be robbers might reflect upon the inevitable misery that will be inflicted upon them as a result of their offending."

In his sentencing notes, Judge Wade drew attention to the "sickening" scale of violent offending, which he said was "little more than sheer sadism" in some cases.

One home invasion victim was forced at gunpoint to sit on the hot elements of his electric stove in a bid to make him reveal the PIN number of an eftpos card.

In another case, the victim was bound, gagged and blindfolded, and had a running chainsaw lowered to the back of his neck until the teeth bit into the skin.

- NZPA