Former announcer sent to jail

Press, 16 April 1980, Page 4

Former announcer sent to jail

' A former disc jockey,Ji radio announcer and house painter, Andrew Dale Edwards, who bounced valueless cheques all over Christchurch ’ before going to Auckland .and hofding up a dairy proprietor with a hammer by pretending it was an automatic pistol, was jailed for one year by Mr Justice, ■Roper in the High Court: (yesterday. i Edwards, aged 26, was • appearing for sentence on I (charges of aggravated rob-( ■ bery. unlawfully taking a' ■ rental car, and 13 charges of false pretence involving, worthless cheques to the t ‘v-jue of $919. He pleaded; guilty to the charges in the District Court and was committed to the High Court fori sentence. J All the offences were l committed in 1977 before Edwards absconded to Australia while on bail. i The police statement said: ithat Edwards wrote worth-' [less cheques to the value of. [s9l9. He admitted that he| (knew the cheques would be[ 'dishonoured and said that he! was trying to'run a business with no capital and had been cashing the cheques to get money to pay his work-[ ers. • I On March 12, 1977, Ed-, wards drove to Auckland in! a rental car and booked into! [the Gold Star Motel at! Mangere. He stopped the ve-| hide outside a dairy and left: the motor running. He hid a hammer under his right armpit and went into the shop. . After waiting five minutes, | for all the customers tol

(leave Edwards approached [the owner, Denis Scotting,! holding the hammer in his 1 right hand. The hammer was covered by a blue denim' jacket. Edwards told Mr Scotting: that it was a hold-up and to hand over the money or he would shoot him with the automatic pistol he was (holding. He was given notes and cheques from the cash register. [ Backing out with the. iweapon still pointing at Mr; 'Scotting, Edwards said that: he would shoot him if he used the telephone to call 'the police. Edwards ran to ■the car and drove at high; speed to the Auckland Inter-' national Airport where he (abandoned the vehicle in the [car park. I After changing his cloth-i ing in the toilets had a drink and then unsuc-; icessfully tried to cash the ; cheques at a bank. He then! [flushed the cheques down a[ lavatory. I Edwards travelled into the, I city by taxi, where he dyed: [his hair in an attempt to; change his appearance, but! he did not make a good job of it and then had it dyed' iby a hairdresser. | Obtaining money from his I parents in Australia Ed-' (wards flew home. The dairy, proprietor said 5350 was! (stolen but Edwards claimed: Ihe only got $9O and thel cheques which he destroyed,! the statement said. Mr E. Bedo, for Edwards, submitted that imprisonment need not be considered an .inevitable.sentence and thatj ia substantial term of period-1

ic detention coupled with a Tine and an order for restitution would be an appropriate - penalty. Before committing the offences Edwards had been in business as a house painter by day and a disc jockey by night. He had insufficient capital and had difficulty in paying his staff in the paint-, ing business. His disco venture was beset by difficulties. When he lent his equipment to a friend, two of the speakers, were blown up and the ve-l hide he used to transport his equipment broke down. Because he lacked the business acumen, capital,' and maturity to overcome those problems he resorted to issuing valueless cheques to keep the businesses going and to meet his private ex-, penses. I Edwards was expecting a lump sum payment from an insurance company and he ‘now candidly admitted that; ,he had deluded himself into' , thinking that eventually he : would be able to pay sufficient money into the (account, to meet the cheques he had issued. ; After appearing in the Distrcit Court on false pre-; tence charges Edwards was; granted bail. While on re-1 mand further persons ap-, proached him about making, good the valueless cheques! he had given them. At the: suggestion of a friend he ab-( sconded to Australia, Mr Bedo said. His Honour: But didn't be do exactly the same thing | when he left Australia toj come to this country and hei

still has not paid a fine of $400? Mr Bedo agreed that that was correct. After driving a rental car to Wellington, Ed,wards telephoned a friend in! Christchurch and was told! that the police were looking! for him. Panicking, Edwards drove] to Auckland where he found! himself without money and friends. He had an obsessive desire to return to his home in Australia and spent an afternoon, in his own words, “plucking up courage to be a robber” to get money for his fare home. After several sleepless nights and travelling for 24 hours Edwards committed the robbery in a daze, but he did not get sufficient money for the air ticket and eventually contacted his parents in Australia who sent him the fare, something which he should have done in the first place. Had any resistance been!

[offered during the . robbery Edwards would have fled from the dairy. No direct ] violence was suffered by the , complainant who suffered no [injury. i Edwards returned to New (Zealand for a ski-ing holiday [and brought money to make (part-restitution- to the perisons he had defrauded with his cheques. He paid $2OO in fines after he arrived. He had spent six weeks in cus-i tody, Mr Bedo said. i His Honour said that after] absconding to Australia' while on bail in 1977, Ed-] wards had returned to New] Zealand earlier this year on I holiday in the belief that the! seriousness of the offences] would have lessened • with] the passage of time. That belief was unrealistic and irresponsible. Periodic detention was not an appropriate sentence for a robbery involving an offensive weapon. Edwards (would be jailed for a year,' ihis Honour said.