Axe-wielding robber jailed for four years

A 30-year-old man who robbed four shops at axe - point during a drug binge was jailed for four years by a Wellington judge today.

Rajnedra Bali had two years taken off his sentence for the January robberies, because of his early guilty plea and his history of bipolar disorder.

Bali had been on a four-day methamphetamine binge, committing the robberies after running out of money to fuel his continued stimulant consumption, Judge Chris Tuohy said in Wellington District Court.

The unemployed man, who was psychologically-disturbed; robbed two service stations on January 14, then another on January 16, followed by a pharmacy on the 17th.

Carried out with "limited planning" typical of this sort of crime, the axeman had netted $120, $230 and an another, undisclosed, small amount from the service stations, and $1521 from the pharmacy, Judge Tuohy said.

The robberies were carried out in the Wellington suburbs of Newtown, Miramar and Newlands.

"You carried out these crimes against particularly vulnerable, small businesses when people are working all alone," he said.

Judge Tuohy accepted Bali had not developed his drug addiction through recreational use but was self-medicating his psychological condition . However, he had neither the excuse of being too young nor of having a clean criminal record, he said.

- NZPA