The final of three defendants accused of participating in the fatal robbery of a Sandringham dairy has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge, just two weeks out from what was scheduled to be his murder trial.
Ōtāhuhu resident Shane Henry Tane, 35, stood before Justice Timothy Brewer in the High Court at Auckland today as he admitted his involvement in the November 2022 heist, which sparked outrage and widespread protests after dairy worker Janak Patel was stabbed to death trying to stop his employer’s cash register from being hauled off in a wheelie bin.
Tane was initially charged with both aggravated robbery and murder, but prosecutors agreed to drop the murder charge in exchange for his guilty plea to aggravated robbery.
“After consultation with the family of Mr Patel, police and the Solicitor-General, it is accepted that a plea of guilty by Mr Tane to aggravated robbery will sufficiently capture his core role in the events of 23 November 2022, and the charge of murder , in all the circumstances, will not be pursued against Mr Tane,” Crown prosecutor Alysha McClintock said in a prepared statement that was read aloud in court before the guilty plea was entered.
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Authorities say Tane had a role in planning the robbery of Sandringham’s well-known pink Rose Cottage dairy and was nearby when the fatal attack on Patel occurred, but he did not enter the store, wield a knife or directly confront the worker.
Frederick Gilbert Hobson – who was the only one of the trio to storm into the business and the only one who attacked Patel – pleaded guilty to murder in March. A third defendant, alleged getaway driver Henry Fred, was granted a stay of proceedings last month due to a terminal illness.
According to court documents released after Hobson’s guilty plea, the trio traveled to the area just after 7pm that evening to carry out their plan.
“Mr Tane was the lookout and was present to provide whatever assistance was needed,” court documents state.
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He “conducted reconnaissance on foot” within approximately 100m of the superette around 7.16pm then drove through the neighborhood with Fred as Hobson continued to scope out the area. Tane then signaled Hobson from the car at about 8pm.
“These signals confirmed the robbery was about to occur,” court documents state.
“…Mr Hobson immediately pulled a black bandana up, to cover the bottom half of his face, and ran into the Rose Cottage Superette, holding a knife and a brown paper bag. Mr Hobson ran behind the counter of the superette, forcing his way through two closed wooden panels, and approached the cash register.”
Patel – who had only months earlier immigrated to New Zealand and just days earlier moved from Hamilton to Auckland to watch over the Rose Cottage Superette while its owners were overseas – had initially been in a back-room living area of the business, when he was alerted to the robbery by his newlywed wife. He stepped into the shop but retreated when Hobson confronted him with the knife.
Hobson then left the store with the entire cash register and other items, including butane lighters and vapes.
Patel was stabbed multiple times about 150m from the store, after chasing after Hobson with a hockey stick in an effort to get the items back.
After the fatal attack, Hobson “continued walking casually” down the street before getting into the getaway car with the two co-defendants, authorities said.
In the aftermath of the killing, hundreds attended vigils for Patel and small business owners temporarily shut their doors across the country in an organized protest to highlight what has been perceived as the growing danger of operating a dairy in New Zealand.
His funeral was attended by then Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Ardern and MP Mark Mitchell, who currently serves as Police Minister under the National-led coalition Government.
Tane stood in the dock wearing matching gray sweatpants and sweatshirt today as he entered the guilty plea. He was accompanied in court by his parents. In another section of the High Court’s largest courtroom gallery, Patel’s family members wept.
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Justice Brewer remanded Tane, who had previously been on bail, back in custody to await sentencing in June alongside Hobson.
Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.
