Tyrone Kamal Henare, left, and Dakia John Henare appeared in the Dunedin District Court on charges of aggravated robbery, violence and driving crimes. Composite Photo / Rob Kidd, ODT
Tyrone Kamal Henare, left, and Dakia John Henare appeared in the Dunedin District Court on charges of aggravated robbery, violence and driving crimes. Composite Photo / Rob Kidd, ODT
A calamitous crime spree in Dunedin ended when one hapless man accidentally shot himself and another crashed into a bus, a court has heard.
Dakia John Henare, 26, and Tyrone Kamal Henare, 28, appeared in the Dunedin District Court today on a slew of charges, including aggravated robbery, violence and driving crimes.
The former was jailed for four years and four months, while his brother received a term of three years and two months' imprisonment.
Their co-defendant, 32-year-old Nicholas James Newton, will be sentenced in October.
The spree began on the eve of the nationwide Covid-19 lockdown on March 23 last year when Newton, Dakia Henare and another man were driving in a stolen Subaru in Kaikorai Valley Rd.
Dakia John Henare. Photo / Rob Kidd, ODT
They parked outside the automatic doors of the Z service station.
One of the men, heavily disguised, ensured that the entrance was clear and Newton - wearing a hat, hood, sunglasses and gloves - entered, wielding a sawn-off shotgun and pointed it at the sole attendant behind the counter, the court heard.
Newton ordered him to put cash and tobacco into a bag, and they made off with $200 and up to 20 pouches.
Two days later, Tyrone Henare with two unidentified associates travelled to Factory Rd in Mosgiel in another stolen Subaru.
The driver entered the Mobil forecourt then reversed at speed into the frontage, causing severe damage.
Tyrone Kamal Henare. Photo / Rob Kidd, ODT
Tyrone Henare, with a long-handled axe, and another man with a crowbar laid into the vape and tobacco cabinet but could not smash it open. Instead, they loaded the cash register into the car and sped off, the court heard.
The level 4 lockdown kicked in at midnight that night, but it only marked a brief hiatus in the offending.
On April 2, Newton was dropped off by the Henare brothers outside the Dunedin Hospital with a shotgun wound to his chest.
He told medical staff he had been taking a weapon out of the boot that night and it had "gone off".
Meanwhile, the Henares sped through central Dunedin and turned left into Hanover St.
At the intersection with Cumberland St, they continued east through a red light before taking a right turn heading south on the one-way system.
The brothers appeared in Dunedin District Court. Photo / File
As the driver shot through another stop light, he hit the side of a bus and came to a rest on the footpath.
Both occupants of the car fled on foot and threw the sawn-off shotgun responsible for Newton's injury onto the roof of a nearby building.
They were soon found by a police dog unit, as was the firearm.
The court heard the brothers had experienced a tumultuous upbringing. They saw domestic violence, drug and alcohol use, and gang culture was normalised.
"He never really had a chance," counsel David More said of Dakia Henare.
The defendants' mother had since turned her life around and Judge Michael Turner urged them to follow her example.
Tyrone Henare's counsel John Westgate said his client was not beyond redemption.
"When he's not on drugs, he's a good dad and quite capable of functioning in the community," he said.
