Bank robber hired taxis for getaway cars

A robber who demanded $100 notes from bank tellers used taxis as his getaway cars.

Anthony Trevor Grafton, a 36-year-old sickness beneficiary, told police he did the two robberies to get money for his medication because doctors would not prescribe it for him.

Grafton was due for a depositions hearing today, but when police prosecutor Sergeant Brent Register withdrew two charges alleging armed robbery and replaced them with robbery charges, he pleaded guilty.

He will be sentenced at a crown sentencing session for more serious cases on July 14. Judge Brian Callaghan remanded him in custody and asked for a pre-sentence report.

Grafton, tattooed and with long hair, committed the robberies over two days in January and was later picked up by police lying injured on the street. His jaw had apparently been broken in an assault by associates.

Mr Register said Grafton went to a Bank of New Zealand branch in the city at 1.40pm on January 17 and handed a woman teller a note written on a deposit slip demanding ten $100 notes.

He had a hand inside his jacket and the teller believed he had a weapon. He took a taxi away from the bank, and the money was not recovered.

The next day at 11.30am he entered a Westpac bank in New Brighton suburb, again with a hand inside his clothing. He again passed a note demanding $100 notes. The woman teller gave him three, and as he walked from the bank he told another staff member: "Shut this door and I'll shoot you."

Again, he made his escape by taxi. One $100 note was recovered from the taxi driver but the other two had not been found, said Mr Register said.

When Grafton was found, he told police he only had his hand inside his clothing at the first bank, but was holding a knife the second time.

Defence counsel Patrick Butler said he would apply for a person with specialist knowledge of Grafton's medical history to be allowed to speak at the crown sentencing.

- NZPA