Robber given discount for stupidity
Michael Paul Thompson’s robbery of a Linwood liquor store was so inept that a judge has literally given him a discount “for stupidity”.
In fact, the raid by 33-year-old Thompson and two associates to snatch booze from the Pages Road store went perfectly well. The getaway was not so impressive.
It happened at 5.15pm on Sunday May 24, at a time when Thompson had been on a two-week bender.
The drinking was not an excuse for the offence, but it may account for the non-existent forethought and planning.
Defence counsel Craig Ruane described it as “one of the most inept aggravated robberies that has come before the court in the last year or so”.
Christchurch District Court Judge Gary MacAskill said at Thompson’s sentencing that he was reducing Thompson’s sentence because “of the stupidity involved in the current offending”.
He jailed Thompson for two years ten months, and ordered him to pay $200 reparations to the liquor store after his release. Thompson had pleaded guilty to the aggravated robbery charge.
No weapon was involved in the robbery, but it was aggravated because three men had acted together.
They went into the store, through the “in” automatic door, planning to steal bottles of liquor.
Thompson grabbed a cognac and an associate grabbed two bottles of bourbon – total value $250.
They then tried to make their getaway, through the “in” door. According to Mr Ruane they “bounced” because it was not the exit door and did not open.
By the time they headed for the correct door, the shop manager had flicked a switch and it was not going to open either.
“There was no forward planning,” said Mr Ruane. “One can tell that from them not even picking the right exit.”
Up till then it had been a theft, and there had been no intention to commit violence.
But finding themselves trapped in the shop, Thompson then threatened to “smash” the manager and went behind the counter and stole cigarettes. An associate also took a few packets.
When that happened, the theft became a much more serious aggravated robbery charge with a much longer guideline sentence.
Faced with the threat, the 23-year-old manager opened the door and let them go, but he said in his victim impact statement that it was “a very scary experience” and it had affected him.
Thompson was known to the shop staff and he had a distinctive facial tattoo which meant his picture was easily picked out of a police photo montage. There had been no attempt at disguise.
Mr Ruane said: “This is a theft which turned horribly wrong and became an aggravated robbery more by accident than anything else.”
Judge MacAskill commented: “You are in a position of asking for a discount for stupidity.”
The judge noted that liquor stores were frequent targets of such raids. It was relatively common for offenders to be young people who carried them out without rational thought.
He said Thompson had an appalling record including serious violence and dishonesty, breaches of sentences, and numerous sentences of imprisonment. He was living under prison release conditions at the time of the robbery.
Category: Focus
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