Armed robbery accused freed on bail

Lenz Superette. Photo / Bay of Plenty Times

A Tauranga man who has admitted holding up the Lenz Superette with a small pistol and his face disguised by a balaclava has been freed on bail pending sentencing.

Welder Brett Robert Heginbotham, 28, of Bethlehem, pleaded guilty to a charge of aggravated robbery in Tauranga District Court today.

Heginbotham entered the dairy just before 5pm on May 17 and demanded money but left with only an armful of cigarettes before speeding away in a white Toyota Corolla vehicle.

Armed police arrested Heginbotham at the Cobblestone Court Motel on Chapel Street about 30 minutes later.

Heginbotham was not a guest at the motel. Occupants of the dairy were unharmed after hiding at the back of the store until he left.

Judge Peter Rollo agreed to continue Heginbotham's bail pending sentencing on August 5, taking into account that he had no prior convictions of any sort, the victims were uninjured and the contents of their victim impact statements. A sentence of home detention was likely.