Teens aged 13 to 15 arrested for robbery of Napier pizza delivery driver

IN COURT: Two of the three boys arrested after a pizza delivery robbery will appear in Napier Youth Court next month. PHOTO/FILE

Three boys aged 13 to 15 have been arrested for the aggravated robbery of a pizza delivery driver in Napier — a charge which carries a penalty of up to to 14 years' jail.

Police announced the arrests yesterday, four days after the Sunday night set-up in which the delivery driver was assaulted and robbed after being dispatched to deliver pizza to the Hastings St entrance of the Quality Inn carpark.

The 15-year-old appeared in the Hastings Youth Court on Wednesday, and the 14-year-old yesterday. Both were remanded on bail to appear in Napier Youth Court on February 1.

The 13-year-old has been referred to police Youth Aid.

Police said they were still looking for two others and were seeking information from anyone who might have seen a rowdy group of youngsters in the Hastings St area up to and about the time the robbery occurred.

"Police understand the group were acting in a disorderly fashion and making a lot of noise so we think people would have noticed them," a spokesman said earlier this week.

The 22-year-old victim was threatened with a weapon and assaulted as he pulled up to make the delivery. One of the assailants grabbed the pizza, cash and the driver's cellphone from the vehicle before the group fled across the road, at least two of them with push scooters.

While those aged 16 in the Youth Court cannot be sentenced to jail, they can be placed in secure care facilities, and judges have the authority to elevate young offenders to high courts to face adult sentences if they consider the circumstances appropriate.

According to statistics, 39 young persons received adult sentences in district courts or the High Court in New Zealand in the 12 months to the end of June last year.

The youngest person sentenced in Hawke's Bay to prison in the past 25 years was 15; she was jailed for her part in a dairy robbery in Napier.

In 2001, 40-year-old Michael Choy was robbed and killed while delivering pizza in Papakura. Among the eight convicted were Alexander Tokorua Peihopa, 16, and Whatarangi Rawiri, 17, who were each sentenced to life imprisonment for murder, and Bailey Junior Kurariki, who was aged 12 at the time of the robbery and sentenced to seven years' jail for manslaughter.

Despite not taking part as a lookout and not taking part in the physical assault, Kurariki became the youngest person convicted in New Zealand in relation to a killing.