Armed dairy robber jailed for five years

Press, 18 February 1989, Page 6

Armed dairy robber jailed for five years

A young man, who admitted an armed robbery of a Fitzgerald Avenue dairy last month, and an escape from custody last week, was jailed for nearly five years when he appeared in the High Court for sentence yesterday.

Barry Alan Johansen, aged 20, had pleaded guilty in the District Court to charges of aggravated robbery, and unlawfully taking a motor vehicle, related to the dairy holdup on January 24. He and another man, in a converted car, had gone to the dairy where he held the proprietor and her daughter at knifepoint and escaped with $358. Johansen also admitted his part in the burglary of a Kainga house the next day, in which two firearms were taken.

The escaping charge, which he also admitted, realated to an incident on February 9, when, as a remand prisoner at Addington Prison, Johansen was escorted to Christ-

church Hospital for treatment.

As they were preparing to return to the prison, Johansen was sitting handcuffed to a prison officer in the back of a van, with the van doors open, when he produced an object the officer thought was a thin-bladed i knife.

The officer, concerned for his safety, released Johansen, who was, however, recaptured when police searched a Bishop Street house last Monday. He told police he had made the “knife” out of a plastic toothbrush with a sewing needle fixed in one end at Addington Prison.

Johansen’s counsel, Mr David Ruth, said the offences occurred after Johansen was involved in a series of well-publicised bag snatches.

He had been remanded on those charges to the Odyssey Houe drug-reha-bilitation programme, on January 18, but left Odyssey House the same day.

He was spoken to by police about the breach of bail, but not detained, which was “in hindsight, unfortunate,” said Mr Ruth.

Mr Ruth said that Johansen had childhood difficulties, and a list of offending since 1984, the seriousness of which had increased markedly. He had a deep-seated drug dependence for which he needed money and, in the view of Odyssey House, a psychological dependence on his cooffender. Mr Ruth said his client accepted the inevitability of a prison sentence, but said in mitigation that he had pleaded guilty at the outset, except for two charges. These charges would be heard later.

These were a conspiracy charge realted to the dairy hold-up, and an aggravated assault charge related to the escape, to which Johansen pleaded not guilty. Mr Raoul Neave, for the Crown, said that the

robbery was planned and was serious offending while on bail. Johansen had “an alarming record ... escalating in seriousness and frequency.” Mr Justice Williamson told Johansen that the victims of the robbery had since been distressed, suffering sleepless nights as a result.

Johansen was entitled to some consideration because of his age, but his offending had reached the point where the protection of the public had to be given greater weight.

Mr Justice Williamson sentenced him to four years jail, less the seven days he had already spent in custody, on the robbery charges, and terms of two years and one year respectively on the burglary and car conversion charges, to be served concurrently.

A further term of nine months on the escaping charge was imposed, to be cumulative.