A teenager who admitted carrying out 17 aggravated robberies in several Auckland suburbs using a gun or a knife has been jailed for 10 years.
Nicholas Eruera Joyce, now aged 19, robbed service stations and shops of almost $7000 during a 21/2-month crime spree last year.
He was sentenced in the Auckland District Court yesterday.
The Manurewa youth told police he needed the money for household bills.
He robbed service stations in Weymouth, Otara, Newmarket and Mission Bay, a Weymouth pharmacy and an Ellerslie beauty shop.
The service stations were held up between midnight and 5.30 am when Joyce, wearing a balaclava, brandished a weapon at attendants.
Police, concerned about a spate of armed robberies between March and June last year set up a special operation that led to Joyce's arrest on June 4.
A pistol and balaclava were found in the car in which he was travelling.
Joyce committed two robberies while on bail. He had appeared in court charged with unlawful possession of the pistol, which was confiscated, then resorted to using a knife.
He admitted five of the robberies and pleaded guilty to the other 12 part-way through a jury trial last month.
Judge Chris Field yesterday sentenced him to a total of 10 years in jail.
An associate who drove a getaway car during two of the robberies, 22-year-old Vernon Matuwaru Takiari, of Otara, was jailed for 21/2 years.
Holdup-spree teen jailed for 10 years
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