The Bay of Plenty Times Weekend has obtained Crown and police summaries for the three offences, which happened over a three-week period last year.
The burglary of the Kings & Queens Bayfair stall, which sells high-end street jewellery and stocks major brands such as Versace, Guess, Nixon and Casio, was on September 15.
The stall was locked, secured and covered with a black sheet when Jones entered the shopping centre at 10.36pm with an unknown associate.
Jones, wearing dark clothing, gloves and a nurse’s mask, crawled to get behind the stall counter and used a large kitchen knife to cut the sheet covering the jewellery cabinet.
He grabbed jewellery from the cabinet, in total spending about 2.5 minutes searching the stall before crawling back out and fleeing.
As he exited the shopping centre, Jones removed his mask and revealed his identity.
The owner of the stall estimated about $15,000 worth of gold and silver jewellery were stolen, which had not been recovered.
The first Sunglasses Hut robbery was on September 29, when Jones was working with a female accomplice.
She was seen passing him a green tote bag from the mall while they were in a vehicle parked in the underground carpark about 8.35pm.
She had already entered the Sunglasses Hut when Jones walked in at 8.44pm.
The staff member asked if they were shopping together because they were standing so close to each other.
The associate replied, “No, no”.
Jones quickly grabbed two pair of sunglasses, and the staff member reached out for them.
Jones said, “Don’t do anything”, then opened his jacket to show her he had a knife or a stick about 15cm in length.
Scared she might be harmed, she walked back to the counter as Jones grabbed more sunglasses and left.
Bayfair security was alerted.
The same staff member was working again when Jones returned about 5pm on October 5, this time armed with a hammer.
She recognised him from the week before. As she went to call security, she said to Jones, “Oh, not again”.
He responded, “I have to” and showed her the hammer before grabbing several pairs of Versace glasses and leaving.
Bayfair security and police responded after the robbery.
Reparation was being sought for the sunglasses and stolen jewellery.
Judge Christina Cook convicted Jones on all charges and remanded him in custody for sentencing next month and a possible restorative justice meeting.
Call for ‘zero tolerance’ of retail crime
Retail New Zealand spokeswoman Aimie Hines said the rising cost of retail crime was having a “significant impact” on retailers across the country.
“We approximate at least a $1 billion impact each year. This cost comes out of the bottom line of retailers and is putting a significant financial and mental health strain on the sector.”
Hines said attacks were becoming more severe and violence, aggression and anti-social behaviour were experienced by retailers daily.
Hines said it was Retail NZ’s view more work could be done generally to combat retail crime, including a “zero tolerance” approach to crime against retailers.
It also wanted enhanced trespass laws, instant fines for petty offences, specific legislation for offences against retail workers, and a “social change programme” to encourage respect for people and property rights.
Last week Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced policies aimed at cracking down on crime, including making it an aggravating factor at sentencing hearings for an adult to incite or influence young people to commit crimes.
Radio NZ reported Hipkins said in terms of increasing retail crime, the police had been “very proactive” at identifying and arresting offenders, but there were gaps and the Government was “working to close them”.
He said intensive intervention programmes introduced last year had helped lower reoffending but the rate was still high.
“This builds on the work we put in place last year.”
The National Party has announced a series of policies on how it would deal with young serious offenders if elected.
It said these included increasing consequences for repeat offenders, setting up military academies for intensive rehabilitation and investing in community organisations to work with the offenders and support their families.
Sandra Conchie is a senior journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post who has been a journalist for 24 years. She mainly covers police, court and other justice stories, as well as general news. She has been a Canon Media Awards regional/community reporter of the year.
