Women jailed after brutal kidnapping ordeal

Tessa Kereopa (L) and Pamela Renata in the Auckland District Court . Photo / NZPA

Two women have been jailed for the abduction and robbery of an elderly woman just before Christmas.

Pamela Renata, 24, and Tessa Kereopa, 26, were jailed for five years and four months today at the Auckland District Court after they admitted charges of kidnapping and aggravated robbery.

On December 18 2009, the pair stalked an 82-year-old woman and then abducted her, forcing her to drive around in her own car while they used her bank card to withdraw cash.

During this time, she had an imitation pistol held to her head.

Judge Glen Marshall said it was "particularly callous and heartless offending, directed at one of our most vulnerable sectors of society."

Judge Marshall said Renata and Kereopa had decided to attack an elderly woman that day and after spotting their eventual victim in suburban Meadowbank, they followed her to Glen Innes shopping centre and then to St Heliers shopping centre.

When she returned to her car in St Heliers, she was confronted by the women, who got into her car.

A little while later Renata and Kereopa made her stop the car and forced her into the back seat, pointing an imitation gun at her and forcing her to lie down in an uncomfortable manner.

Though it was an imitation gun, Judge Marshall said that "for the victim's purposes it presented as a real weapon".

The offenders then found her purse and demanded the victim tell them pin numbers for her credit and ATM cards, which she did as she feared for her life.

After driving back to Glen Innes, where they picked up a third offender, Kereopa and Renata held the women for 15 minutes as they drove around the suburbs.

During this time they withdrew $1400 from an ATM machine.

They eventually released her back at St Heliers, after which they used her credit card to spend $398.50 at a liquor store and $259.20 at a grocery store.

Judge Marshall said the offending had a profoundly distressing impact on the victim. Her health had deteriorated, as had her psychological well-being.

It was revealed Kereopa had previous convictions, including one for robbery which she had been sentenced to nine months' supervision.

Renata had 35 previous convictions, 15 of which were for dishonesty offences, and she committed these offences while on bail.

Judge Marshall gave both women a starting point for sentence of seven years nine months imprisonment. He added three months for each for their previous convictions but gave them discounts of 33 per cent for early guilty pleas, resulting in jail terms of five years and four months.

"You have both taken responsibility for your actions and you have spared an elderly person the trauma of coming to court and giving evidence."

Judge Marshall said he considered imposing a minimum non-parole period but eventually decided it was not warranted.