The Star: June 15, 2017

The Star Latest Christchurch news at www. .kiwi
Thursday June 15 2017 7
tell of gunman’s terror
“It was a surreal experience
lying on the floor while there is a
gunman in the building wanting
money,” she said.
Roake asked if there was a
back way to leave.
“No, everything is bolted shut,”
the bartender said.
Roake was agitated and very
aggressive as he pointed the gun
in a threatening manner telling
them they “were doing well, I
don’t want to hurt you, but if you
move I will.”
He then demanded money
from the pokies, as he had during
the first robbery. He was
told it would take longer this
time, as they had not cleared the
machines.
He ordered the manager and
bartender into the pokie room
for more cash before telling the
bartender: “You come with me”.
Panic filled. She thought she
would be taken as a hostage. She
decided she wouldn’t go without
a fight. But all Roake wanted was
for her to zip up his loot bag. She
fumbled which made him angry.
He yelled at her to hurry up.
Roake told her to lie back
down and he left through the
hole in the front door. He walked
a short distance along Centaurus
Rd, but returned to pick up the
AFTERMATH: Broken glass and a hole where a shotgun pellet
lodged into the timber.
PHOTOS: ANDREW KING
spent cartridge by the door.
The manager says Roake was
in the bar for at least 10min.
When police arrived they
ordered everyone out of the bar
at gunpoint, something that was
just as traumatic as the robbery
itself, she said.
The manager says the robberies
have affected her.
“Sometimes, I don’t want to
be here, but I have too. You can’t
run away in life, you have to
confront the demons.”
In the first robbery on March
14, Roake again struck at closing
time. Staff waiting outside for a
lift home were marched into the
bar at gunpoint.
They were ordered onto the
ground and the manger told to
hand over the money. He made
everyone get on the ground
while he demanded money from
the manager.
“You’re doing well ma’am,”
Roake said as she complied with
his orders.
“When it happened I just
turned into a zombie. I couldn’t
tell you what was going through
my mind,” the manager said.
She will always be puzzled why
Roake targeted the bar, not once
but twice.
She and the bartender went to
court to hear Roake.
“We went to court to hear his
voice to put our minds at ease
that it was him and that the guy
was not still out there,” the manager
said.
One way the manager and one
of the bartenders have taken
their mind off things is buying
Fitbits, a device that monitors
how many steps you take. That
has now turned into a bit of a
competition.
“I am currently winning,” the
manager laughed.
Responding, the bartender
said: “It is because she goes for
huge walks in the morning before
I have even got up.”
Roake’s robberies and
shootings
•March 10 – Tavern Harewood
robbed at about 10.45pm.
$18,982 was taken, but he
dropped about $2000 while
fleeing.
•March 14 and 29 – The
Brickworks was robbed
twice. Once at about 10.45pm
on March 14 and again at
about 11pm on March 29
where he shot his way into
the bar through a locked
door. $43,000 was taken in
the first robbery and $12,000
in the second.
•March 24 – Trevinos
Restaurant and Bar was
robbed just before midnight.
$29,708 was taken.
•April 6 – Springston Hotel
robbed with shots fired inside
the bar at about 10.30pm. ​
$10,000 was taken.
•April 19 – Roake shot a
woman and her daughter
at a property on Newtons
Rd, near Rolleston, at about
10pm. Both survived. He fled
the property and headed for
Ashburton.
•April 19 – Hotel Ashburton’s
Turf Bar was robbed by
Roake at gunpoint at about
11.20pm with several shots
fired during the hold-up.
$1645 was taken.
•A total of $115,335 was taken
from the six robberies.
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