Serial bank robber jailed for holding up Wellington currency exchange

Steven Kurt Peri, a man who has committed 10 bank robberies in past years, was sentenced in the Wellington District Court for a crime of the same nature. Photo / Hazel Osborne

When notorious bank robber Steven Kurt Peri pulled a pistol on the teller of a currency exchange store and demanded cash, the amount handed over spurred him to question - “Is that all you have?”

It was a Wednesday morning in February this year, just after the commuter rush, when Peri, 44, walked into No 1 Currency Exchange on Lambton Quay.

Reaching into the waistband of his trousers, Peri pulled out a 9mm blank Umarex Reck Miami pistol and pointed it at an attendant behind the counter, demanding money.

While she went to the backroom, Peri pointed the pistol at a second attendant, racking the slide of the gun to intimidate her, the Wellington District Court heard today.

He again demanded money and, fearing for her safety, the second attendant complied, handing over a “large wad of Australian currency”.

Peri stuffed the money in his pocket before stating, “Is that all you have?”

She then handed over a bundle of foreign currency, which included US dollars.

Peri stashed the money in his pockets and told the woman to go into the back room. He then placed the pistol into his waistband and left the store.

Police charged Peri with unlawfully carrying an imitation firearm and aggravated robbery.

The approximate value of currency Peri made off with that day was around $25,000.

In court, Judge Noel Sainsbury sentenced Peri to four and a half years behind bars, noting the offending was his 11th robbery or aggravated robbery conviction.

His criminal history dates back to the late 1990s when he was jailed for 12 years in Canada.

He was deported to New Zealand in 2007 after serving just under two-thirds of his sentence, but when he arrived back in the country, he went on to commit further robberies.

“There are times when you can cope well ... and then things fall apart,” Judge Sainsbury told Peri. “Your only coping mechanism seems to be you returning to this kind of offending.”

Lawyer Cara Thorburn, on behalf of Peri, said he was entitled to “significant” discounts for his “very difficult history” and how it has affected him.

Thorburn said Peri’s offending was not of someone who made a calm and rational decision but was motivated by his emotional wellbeing and drug use.

In relation to Peri’s background, Judge Sainsbury said he hoped Peri would be able to “unravel some of the damage that’s there”.

“Because unless that happens, your future’s bleak.”

Hazel Osborne is an Open Justice reporter for NZME and is based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Wellington. She joined the Open Justice team at the beginning of 2022, previously working in Whakatāne as a court and crime reporter in the Eastern Bay of Plenty.