Man behind armed pub robberies denied parole for third time

RNZ News

20-05-2025

File photo.
Photo:
RNZ / Dan Cook
The Parole Board has refused to release serial masked robber Douglas Roake from prison, saying it remains in the dark as to the reasons for his offending.
The 30-year-old carried out six armed pub robberies in Canterbury over a month and a half in 2017, before invading a rural home in Rolleston and shooting a mother and her daughter.
He was jailed for 13 years and eight months with a minimum non-parole period of six and a half years.
Roake, who was 23 at the time, was arrested in April 2017. He pleaded guilty to six charges of aggravated robbery, as well as two of wounding with intent to injure and two charges of presenting a firearm.
He committed the home invasion after robbing the Ashburton Hotel, and it later became known that he had robbed several other bars at gunpoint in Canterbury including the Brickworks Bar - which he hit twice - the Springston Hotel and Trevinos Bar and Restaurant.
Roake appeared before the Parole Board last July, where concerns were raised about his different accounts of the offending, as he accepted his initial explanation had not been truthful.
Parts of the decision released on Tuesday were redacted, but showed that Roake had provided some further information about the offending which indicated he had not been acting alone when he committed the robberies.
He told the board he had lied when he was first arrested because he did not know how to tell the truth.
He said he received a cut of the proceeds of each robbery and was hopeful of receiving a cut on subsequent occasions which influenced his decision to agree to further robberies.
Roake also said he used some of the proceeds to buy more guns.
At sentencing, Judge Jane Farish said Roake's offending was "inexplicable" and the police, lawyers, his family and the victims were all baffled as to why he acted in such a serious violent fashion, with this lack of clarity raising issues around risk of reoffending.
The board said it still did not have a complete understanding of why the offending occurred, "nor are we confident of which explanation we can rely on".
It said the psychological reports before the board did not provide a complete picture of Roake's personality features and how they could contribute to any future risk of further violent offending.
"Given the very serious nature of this offending, we also struggle to understand how we can be confident that Roake will not develop misplaced beliefs or perceptions in the future or rely on fantasy movie scripts to enact further violence.
"Nor are we confident that [withheld] he would not be vulnerable again to taking extreme actions when pressured."
When asked how the board could be satisfied nothing like this could happen again, Roake said if he felt threatened or pressured in the future he would contact police.
The board declined parole as it did not have the necessary information to assess future risk.
It requested another psychological report focused on his personality features and neurodiversity related issues and how they may be relevant to his risk of reoffending.
The board said it did not require further exploration of Roake's explanations of his offending, as that had been well traversed, unless the psychologist considered it to be important.
"With five and a half years left on his sentence and the uncertainties around his risk, we consider that a lengthy period of reintegration is required."
Roake has been in self-care for seven months at the Otago Corrections Facility, has been working in the external grounds and on occasion has worked in the dairy farm.
He will appear in front of the parole board again next April.
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