The Star: August 22, 2019

news online at www.star.kiwi
Thursday August 22 2019 The Star
OPINION 17
When bank robberies were the norm
THE ROBBERY of Kiwibank in
Parklands last week was sort of a
blast from the past.
Bank hold-ups, thankfully,
are relatively uncommon these
days. Dairies are now a primary
target, usually by teenagers in
groups after cigarettes, cash and
anything else they can grab.
But there was a time when
banks and the security vans
which would pick up and drop of
large amounts of cash were the
targets.
Most of the robbers who
targeted banks were wellorganised,
experienced
criminals, often linked to gangs,
and armed with cut down
shotguns or rifles. An influx of
drugs, particularly cocaine, was
often the reason for the need for
lots of quick cash.
The robbers knew what they
were doing and getting in and
out as quickly as possible without
incident was paramount – but
that was no consolation for the
terror endured by bank staff,
customers and security guards.
There were also the lone wolf
From the
editor’s desk
Barry Clarke
robbers. One individual stole the
same motor-cycle parked in the
central city on two occasions to
rob banks. He was believed to
have been a fairly well-known
sportsman at the time, but police
were never able to get enough
evidence to arrest him.
Then there was the guy
disguised in a clown mask
who shot himself in the foot,
figuratively speaking.
Armed, he turned up at a
Stanmore Rd, Richmond, bank
– minutes before it was due to
open. He couldn’t get in. Threats
and gesturing didn’t convince
the staff to open the main door.
He fled on foot, dropping the
mask as he ran. Police caught
him soon after.
And then there was the late
Wayne Beri, prime suspect for
the Aulsebrooks payroll robbery,
and an individual who spent
most of his adult life in prison
(where he died of a heart attack)
for drug dealing.
Beri had been released on
work parole into the sponsorship
of someone police also kept a
fairly close eye on. How that was
signed off is anybody’s guess.
Police began to bug phones
after hearing through the
grapevine Beri’s time on work
parole could be put to another
use – robbery.
Security vans delivering
and picking up money from
Christchurch banks were
believed to be the target.
During the bugging, they
also picked up something more
sinister: Police heard a man
who had known Beri from years
before asking him to murder his
wife.
Most people just get divorced.
Police swooped, numerous
people were arrested, including
the woman’s husband, and the
intended victim was put into
a place of safety. Police were
later unable to proceed on the
attempting to procure a murder
charge in court on a technicality.
The evidence from the bugging
was ruled inadmissible and the
husband walked free.
A few years later, when I was
interviewing Beri by phone from
prison for a life and times of
Wayne Beri-type article, I asked
him if he would have killed the
woman: “No,” he said sharply.
“But I might have burnt her
house down.” Mmm.
During the interview, he did
reveal he once held up a bank in
Sydney – while on a sports trip.
Beri was a good rugby league
player here in Christchurch, and
his club side went across the
Tasman on an end-of-season
type trip.
While his teammates were
elsewhere, Beri told me he held
up the bank. He went straight to
the counter, was very aggressive,
made out he had a weapon and
was out with the cash in super
quick time.
But one of the more audacious
bank heists here in Christchurch
I can recall wasn’t actually a
robbery. A man dressed as a
security guard went into a bank
just before a scheduled pick
up. He was so plausible and
convincing, bank staff handed
him the cash. He calmly walked
out of the bank and he and the
money were never seen again.
That’s planning.
barry@starmedia.kiwi
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