Robbery 'no joke’ for girl

Press, 10 April 1980, Page 4

Robbery 'no joke’ for girl

PA Wellington A robber waving a small metal object stole a young paper girl’s earnings among crowds of afternoon shoppers in Wellington. A tearful Lineta Patau, aged 14, said that all the people passing seemed to think it was a joke. She was standing with her bundle of papers just before 3 p.m. when a man approached her and demanded to know where she kept her money. When she refused to tell her, he moved back a few metres and pointed a shining metal object at her. “It looked, like a little gun or lighter,” she said. He ordered her to put her money on the ground. Terrified, the girl dropped her canvas money bag and then put the notes on the ground. “He picked them up and I tried to grab him, so he punched me in the head,” she said. As her assailant ran off down the street a young man standing nearby realised it was a genuine hold-up and gave chase. The thief dropped the money bag but kept $6 worth of notes.