Willing robbery ‘victim’ fined

Press, 26 January 1988, Page 4

Willing robbery ‘victim’ fined

PA Auckland A shop assistant became victim of an assault in order to make a staged wine shop robbery more realistic, the North Shore District Court heard yesterday. Grant Kronfeld, aged 20, of Takapuna, who pleaded guilty to making a false claim to the police, was convicted and fined $5OO. Judge Bradford said valuable police time was wasted investigating Kronfeld’s false robbery complaint. . Sergeant Don Newton said Kronfeld was working alone at Wilson and Neill Wines, Hauraki Corner, on June 19 when two associates arrived and planned the robbery.

Kronfeld showed them where the cash bag was and how to open the register. They left and agreed to return at closing time to rob the shop if Kronfeld signalled by scratching his head that the coast was clear, the police said. The plan was carried out and Krpnfeld’s two associates made off with $9OO after one of them knocked Kronfeld to the ground. Kronfeld complained to the police that he had been • robbed. The police said that when he was first interviewed he gave a false description of one offender and an accurate description of the other.

It was not until Kronfeld was interviewed for the third time about the robbery that he admitted lying. His co-offenders were then apprehended. -X-