Auckland bank robber Eru Stevens convicted of stealing $50,000 from SkyCity Casino

“It’s not realistic,” defense lawyer Jonathan Hudson admitted this week of the prospect of his client receiving a community sentence, adding that schizophrenia “has been quite prominent in his life for a number of years” and was the main driver of his relapse his.

Court documents show Stevens entered through the front entrance of the SkyCity Casino at 12:26 a.m. on the day of the robbery and went straight to the main gaming floor on level 2 while holding a folded high visibility jacket.

He then cut in line at the main counter of the cage where money was spread and handed a female employee a ticket.

“Hand over the money, I have a gun,” it read.

Another employee, realizing what was happening, pressed a security button under the counter. Casino security called the cage and he tried to explain the dilemma while calming Stevens down.

“At the same time, (he) leaned over to where the money was kept and asked the defendant if he wanted $50 or $20 bills,” the documents state. “The defendant did not answer.

“(The male employee) took a bundle of $50 bills tied together with rubber bands worth $50,000 and placed the bundle on the counter.”

Stevens initially left without collecting the money, then returned seconds later and put his spare change under his jacket. He left the casino at 12:32 p.m., six minutes after entering.

Although the heist was initially successful, the police didn’t have much on their hands. Stevens, who was listed in court documents as living in Auckland Central but of no fixed address, was already “well known to local staff”, Detective Senior Sergeant Scott Armstrong said at the time. He was not wearing a disguise and the incident was caught on CCTV.

Stevens was arrested the next day in Papakura.

No weapon was ever seen or found on camera, Auckland Central MP Chlöe Swarbrick assured social media followers before Stevens’ arrest.

“I am told that this incident does not reflect any threat to the public,” she wrote. “The suspect is known to authorities, and while staff are calling (whose well-being I can confirm is being looked after), I understand that no weapon – threatened or otherwise – has actually materialized.”

“Extremely Bad”

Stevens originally faced up to 14 years in prison after police charged him with aggravated robbery, a charge that reflects the use of a weapon. Instead, he pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

“Of course you have appeared before the court before,” Manukau District Court Judge Clare Bennett told the hearing as she weighed the sentence to impose. “Your situation is a bit complicated, Mr. Stevens, because you have an extensive history of mental health.

“At the time of your arrest, you were feeling extremely unwell due to schizophrenia.”

The schizophrenia appears to have been exacerbated because he refused treatment, she said, referring to several mental health reports provided to the court before the hearing. They provided “a window into your ongoing struggle” and how it related to his long involvement with the criminal justice system.

Although he was not so insane as to not know what he was doing was wrong — which would be the basis for a not guilty by reason of a finding of insanity — his condition could be used as a mitigating factor in determining his sentence, the judge said.

She determined he should have a starting point of three and a half years for the robbery before deducting 25% for his guilty plea and 20% for mental health.

“It is clear that you have suffered from mental health problems for a very long time,” she said of the deduction. “It’s not your fault. It is a disease.”

But she upped the sentence by four months to answer for previous convictions for robbery, aggravated robbery and burglary. The final sentence, after all deductions and additions, was two years and three months in prison.

He was also convicted and released on a parole violation.

Because Stevens has already been in custody for more than a year, he will likely go before the parole board before Christmas, his attorney said.

Dangerous, not to be approached

Stevens first came to the media’s attention in 2002 after he and a colleague in remand escaped from a security van in an Auckland District Court loading bay on a Monday morning.

He remained at large for two days before police caught up with him on Queen St.

He was walking after a meal at the Methodist City Mission, police said at the time.

Stevens, who was due to appear in court on aggravated robbery and grievous bodily harm charges, was described by police at the time as “dangerous”. Police again warned that Stevens should not be approached in 2019 when they released his photo and said he was wanted for an unspecified reason.

Four years earlier, in December 2015, police released a CCTV image of Stevens robbing a Pt Chevalier Kiwibank Post Shop site. At the time they didn’t know he was in the still, but he was taken into custody just weeks later after he was caught red-handed robbing the same location a second time.

During his subsequent sentencing in June 2017, Auckland District Court Judge Nevin Dawson referred to the need to consider Stevens’ mental health.

Stevens first targeted the bank at 8.45am on November 27, 2015.

“You queued with other customers inside the Kiwibank post shop until the customers in front of you were served,” Judge Dawson said in 2016, reciting the agreed facts of the case. “You then placed a black bag on the counter and told the cashier to give you all your money in the house and safe as you had a bomb in your bag.

“You carried out this threat in a quiet voice so that other customers in the building could not hear. No bomb or weapon was seen or produced.”

Stevens collected $1385 before leaving the store.

But he pressed his luck by returning again on December 18 that year, this time using the self-service desk to write a note that was passed to the cashier.

“I have a gun. Pass money over,” it said.

That time, he ran out of the store with $1,185. But bystanders intervened, shouting about the robbery as Stevens tried to get into a waiting taxi which he then ditched. Then a second spectator entered.

“While members of the public attempted to hold you down, you removed from your person a large black object which was identified as a knife,” Judge Dawson said. “Both audience members backed away from you, fearing they would be hurt. You then continued to run along Pt Chevalier Road and were caught nearby by police officers.

He later pleaded guilty to robbery, aggravated robbery and aggravated assault.

Judge Dawson indicated that deterrence was foremost in his mind during sentencing, but so was rehabilitation in light of Stevens’ mental health.

His final sentence of three years and 10 months in prison was handed down with a slight note of skepticism about his future prospects.

“The probation report indicates that you are assessed as presenting a medium risk of harming others,” Judge Dawson noted. “He also rated you as having a low likelihood of reoffending, which I find somewhat surprising given your very extensive criminal history.”

Craig Captain is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined Herald in 2021 and has reported on the courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.

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