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The teenage son of two New Zealand yachties has pleaded guilty to robbing a North Queensland shopkeeper while pretending to be armed with a gun.
Luke William Mayall, 19, sparked an international manhunt which culminated in his arrest near Auckland in November, 2007, the Cairns Post newspaper reported.
The teenager had been missing for a year at the time of his arrest. His parents, two New Zealand yacht owners in Queensland, reported him missing a week before a hold-up at an Innisfail store.
Yesterday, the 19-year-old pleaded guilty in Cairns District Court to robbing shopkeeper Ellen Norman at the Palmerston Drive store on October 12, 2006, while pretending to be armed with a pistol.
The teen also pleaded guilty to charges of using violence to enter the dwelling of an Innisfail man while pretending to be armed and depriving the man of his liberty.
Sentencing was adjourned to April 23.
- NZPA
