Donald Trump signs 26 executive orders in his first day in office and National Party MPs gather for their annual caucus retreats. Video / NZ Herald / AFP
A woman was knocked down and robbed in an Auckland supermarket carpark in December 2023.
George Jackson Sampson used her stolen bank card for eight transactions totalling $1609 within an hour.
He has now been sentenced to 22 months in prison for the robbery and spending spree.
A woman knocked to the ground as her handbag was yanked off her shoulder while loading groceries into her car says she is now too afraid to shop alone.
The man who targeted her and then robbed her during the “grab-and-run” racked up $1609 in expenses during an hour-long spending spree using one of her bank cards.
George Jackson Sampson was sentenced yesterday to almost two years in prison for the offending that started in a Takanini, Auckland, supermarket carpark in December 2023.
George Sampson during sentencing in the Nelson District Court, where he appeared via video link from Northland. Photo / Tracy Neal
The woman’s driver’s licence, house and car keys were in the bag when it was stolen which caused lingering fear, Judge Garry Barkle said during sentencing in the Nelson District Court.
Sampson initially denied a charge of robbery and a representative charge of using a bank card but later changed his pleas to guilty.
The 26-year-old, who had since moved to Kaitaia was in Nelson briefly for a time and appeared in the Nelson court via a video link from the Northland Corrections Facility.
According to the police, Sampson formed a common intention with two associates to target members of the public in the Pak’nSave carpark in Takanini.
At around 8.20pm he and an associate were dropped off at the supermarket on Great South Road.
At the same time, the woman was loading groceries into the boot of her car outside the supermarket.
Sampson approached her from behind and grabbed the strap of her handbag hanging over her shoulder.
As she tried to stop him from stealing her bag, Sampson pulled harder on the strap and freed it from the woman’s grasp, knocking her over in the process.
The woman said in her victim impact statement she suffered grazes to her arm and leg, was left constantly looking over her shoulder and was now too afraid to shop alone.
Sampson and the associate ran south along Great South Rd, cut through a service station forecourt onto Tironui Rd where the third associate was waiting before they all drove off.
About 10 minutes later Sampson and one of the associates entered a service station on Great South Rd and used one of the woman’s bank cards to buy $135.60 worth of items.
It was the first of eight transactions using the stolen card within an hour.
Minutes later they were in the Bell Bird Dairy on Great South Rd, Manurewa, where Sampson spent $173. His next target was a nearby superette where he spent $165.24, followed by $169.95 at Thirsty Liquor, and a further $174.05 at Apna Spice before heading back to the superette where he spent a further $353.19.
At 9.12pm he used the card to re-charge his 2degrees phone account to the value of $108 and two minutes later he was back at the same Mobil service station on Great South Rd where spent a further $160.
Judge Barkle noted Sampson’s minimal criminal history and how things appeared to have “gone off the rails” in recent years.
An alcohol and drug report showed he had endured poverty and learning difficulties growing up, he had been a heavy cannabis user use from his early teens but had been in fulltime work since 18.
Judge Barkle said on the lead charge of robbery there was no tariff case for such an offence but it was comparable to a street robbery by demand. Aggravating factors were the degree of planning by Sampson and his associates to target members of the public.
He said Sampson being with two others increased the element of intimidation, and the offending happened in a public carpark where there was an inherent risk of placing others in danger who may have tried to intervene.
From an overall starting point of 27 months in prison, Sampson was given a five-month discount for his eventual guilty pleas, arriving at a final sentence of 22 months in prison with leave to apply for home detention if an address was found.
On the representative charge of using the stolen bank card, Sampson was sentenced to five months in prison, to be served concurrently, and ordered to pay $1609.37 in reparation.
Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.
