Man spared jail for his part in brutal robbery

Luke Stowers was sentenced in Whangarei District Court this week. Photo / Thinkstock

His young age and moving back with his parents has saved a man from jail for his involvement in a premeditated robbery that put the victim in hospital.

Luke Stowers, 19, was sentenced in Whangarei District Court this week after admitting aggravated robbery, theft and wilful damage.

Stowers and two associates attacked a man in Forum North carpark on June 3. The trio kicked and punched the man as he lay on the ground before running off with what they thought was cash from the victim's pockets. The paper turned out to be bank statements.

The victim was in hospital for two nights.

Stowers and his associates had discussed robbing someone earlier in the day, though Stowers had not initiated the resulting attack.

The other charges relate to Stowers breaking into a car on Bank St between May 19 and 20. He was serving a period of intensive supervision at the time of his offending and was completing a 200-hour community work sentence on other charges.

Judge Murray Hunt said a victim-impact statement showed the assaulted man was still fearful to leave the house on his own after dark.

"He is still suffering pain from a broken rib ... He thinks you might attack him again because he doesn't know why you did it in the first place," the judge told Stowers.

Stowers' parents and five siblings sat in court. The judge said it was the prospect of Stowers moving back home and being guided by his parents that had spared him prison time.

"Go home to your family ... When I came in here you were going to jail," he told him.

Stowers' young age, guilty plea and apparent remorse were also mitigating factors.

The other offenders involved in the assault had not been caught.