Atarea Rawiri Arapeta Taylor-Nukutarawhiti charged with alleged violent robbery at Mandurah’s Silver Sands IGA

Details of an alleged violent robbery at a Mandurah IGA in which a staff member was attacked have been revealed in court, just months after another assault of a worker at the store. Atarea Rawiri Arapeta Taylor-Nukutarawhiti, 18, appeared in Mandurah Magistrates Court on April 5 via video link from Hakea Prison on six changes including one charge of robbery over the February 18 incident. Police prosecutor Senior Constable Pat Prest told the court Mr Taylor-Nukutarawhiti was at the Silver Sands IGA on Mandurah Terrace about 3pm and left the store without paying, carrying a shopping basket with about $30 worth of items inside. Sen. Const. Prest said Mr Taylor-Nukutarawhiti was confronted by a staff member and asked to drop the items, prompting him to headbutt the worker and punch him in the head “multiple times” while “slinging him around by his shirt”. Mr Taylor-Nukutarawhiti then allegedly walked out of the the store carrying the items. The prosecutor said Mr Taylor-Nukutarawhiti was later arrested at a home about 300m from the IGA. Sen. Const. Prest said he opposed Mr Taylor-Nukutarawhiti being granted bail because police held a strong prosecution case against him, with CCTV capturing the alleged attack, and there were concerns that he may “retaliate to the victim” if released. Bail was also opposed because Mr Taylor-Nukutarawhiti had “shown a propensity to include similar offending on bail” and said the likelihood of Mr Taylor-Nukutarawhiti attending court was “unlikely” as he had failed to report to Mandurah police station seven times when bailed previously. Mr Taylor-Nukutarawhiti also faces two charges of breaching a bail undertaking, two of stealing and one charge of stealing a motor vehicle, which were alleged to have occurred while he was on bail. Duty lawyer Claire Hay said her client had experienced a period of homelessness and missed the reporting dates because of “the chaos of the life he was living”, and said if he was released on bail with a daily requirement to report to the police station it would be a “reminder to him”. Ms Hay said Mr Taylor-Nukutarawhiti would live in Greenfields and his father would act as a surety if released. Magistrate Leanne Atkins granted Mr Taylor-Nukutarawhiti bail under a series of conditions — including not to be within a 100m radius of the IGA — and said she did so because of his age, the potential penalty if he was convicted of the crimes and as he had a “safe place” to live. He will reappear in court on May 3. The attack was the second at the IGA in less than six months, with police in October releasing footage of a woman punching a worker’s head and body after she was stopped for a bag search. Kate Maree Allum, 33, was charged with one count of stealing, common assault and robbery over the offence.