A digger operator has been sentenced to six years and three months in prison today after robbing a Manukau bank with a fake bomb in January.
Tuakau man Clive Mackintosh McKay, 47, entered the BNZ bank on the corner of Great South Road and Ronwood Avenue on January 24 and demanded money.
He claimed to have an explosive device which he left on a teller's desk.
After he left the bank with a small amount of money, McKay hailed a taxi to a McDonald's in Otara and was caught on the vehicle's CCTV camera. The footage was later released by police.
The police bomb squad later found the device to be inert.
At his sentencing today, the Manukau District Court heard McKay had eight previous robbery and aggravated robbery convictions starting in 2002.
Judge Charles Blackie sentenced McKay to 6 years and 3 months' imprisonment with a minimum parole period of 50 per cent of the term for one charge of aggravated robbery and one charge of cultivating cannabis.
He had previously pleaded guilty to the charges.
Judge Blackie said the robbery involved "significant planning" and "careful thought".
"Quite ingenious one might say, but for the wrong purpose."
McKay wore a black wig, drew a false tattoo on himself and applied tape to his fingers so as not to leave any fingerprints, Judge Blackie said.
He entered the bank with a plastic box about the size of a shoe box, containing batteries, a timer and electrical wiring.
It had the "overall appearance of a bomb," Judge Blackie said.
McKay demanded $200,000 and told bank staff he would blow up the device and the bank if he didn't receive it because he didn't care about his life.
He received around $150 in low denomination notes.
On his arrest, police discovered a small cannabis operation at his property.
He admitted his offending and told police he needed the money for bills, as he had recently lost his job.
Victim impact statements from the bank manager and another staff member "made for disturbing reading," Judge Blackie said.
McKay had a "long record of criminal offending".
His first court appearance was before the Youth Court in 1982, Judge Blackie said.
He had since amassed eight pages of convictions, ranging from assaults, theft, forgery, male assaults female, methamphetamine charges and threatening to kill, Judge Blackie said.
McKay also received a warning under the three strikes legislation.
- By Brendan Manning of APNZ
