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Offender Databases Jerry Pira

Jerry Andrew Ngahere Pira

Alias

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Offences

Home invasion, serious assault and threatening to kill a Hamilton couple, plus a rape of and unlawful sexual connection with the wife in November 1990
Armed robberies of a Hamilton liquor store and a Johnsonville, Wellington dairy both in August 2007
A very long list of other convictions for robberies, assault, miscellaneous burglary and dishonesty offences

Victims

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Offender Affiliations

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Gang affiliations

Black Power

Age

Born 1961

Current Location

Prison

Parole/Release Dates

Sentenced to 10 years 7 months in December 1992
Sentenced to 8 years 3 months in April 2009

Background
WAIKATO TIMES, 12th February 2008
Two Waikato men accused of embarking on a spree of armed and violent robberies may be undone by women's deodorant and several boxes of tampons. The items were among a hoard of property found at the home of Jerry Pira, 46, and David Jerome Sutton, 22, and which police believe were stolen in a series of raids in August last year.

The police yesterday laid out their case against the pair at a depositions hearing in the Hamilton District Court. Pira and Sutton face more than 40 charges between them, including aggravated robbery, aggravated assault, unlawful detention and threatening to kill, relating to seven robberies of dairies and liquor stores in August last year.

Prosecutor Tini Clark told Community Magistrate Rae Brooker that Pira and Sutton first struck at Jude's Dairy in Te Awamutu as the store was closing on August 5. The men, both armed with handguns, tied up the store owner and his 12-year-old son, Ms Clark said. The boy managed to free himself before untying his father. They tried to escape but either Pira or Sutton punched the store owner in the face and locked him and his son in a toilet.

The robbers made off with $1800, about $17,000 worth of cigarettes and a watch. Ms Clark said Pira and Sutton raided the Hillcrest Super Liquor in Hamilton five days later, threatening an employee with a gun before fleeing with $550, two bottles of whisky and "a large number of party pills".

The pair struck a dairy at the Urlich Ave shops the following night, again stealing cash and tobacco and punching a female employee in the face in the process. Two days later, on August 13, Pira and Sutton held up the River Rd Food Market at gunpoint, tying up the elderly store owner with tape and punching him several times in the face. Cigarettes, chocolate and about $250 were stolen. On August 15, a liquor store on Heaphy Tce was robbed by Pira and Sutton and a male shop worker was tied up.

Ms Clark said the pair fled the store with $405 cash, two mobile phones, a digital camera, an electronic diary, cigarettes and alcohol. The Clarkin Rd Liquor Inn and another dairy were also robbed, Ms Clark said. She told the court that Pira and Sutton's crime spree then moved to Wellington, where they robbed a dairy on August 23.

The man and woman who owned the store were tied up and the woman was struck in the head with a gun. Nearly $5500 was stolen. Ms Clark said when police searched the Tauwhare house Pira and Sutton shared, items allegedly stolen in some of the robberies were found, including deodorant bottles, boxes of tampons, bank deposit bags, tobacco, two bottles of liquor and a watch.

Tape matching that used to tie up one of the shop owners was also found in Sutton's car, and Ms Clark said phone records showed he sent text messages to his mother using a Sim card from one of the stolen cellphones. She said Sutton's car also received a parking ticket in Wellington about the time of the robbery he and Pira are accused of committing there. The hearing is expected to last most of the week.

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Corrections and Additional Information
We endeavour to make this database as accurate as possible, but we are at the mercy of whatever information we can find in various online and offline archives. We rely on the public - that is, people like you - to fill in the gaps that we cannot. If you wish to submit additional information or a correction to this file CLICK HERE . Privacy: Trust policy is that all sources are treated as strictly confidential unless we are explicitly told otherwise. If you wish to see a file removed from this database certain conditions must be met by the offender set out HERE Note that this does NOT apply for those that are the primary offender in a murder, rape, or any sexual offending involving minors. We do not enter into correspondence regarding the guilt/innocence of offenders. Such correspondence is not responded to, especially if the offender concerned has a number of prior convictions

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