Nelson’s Robert Andrews blames poor mental health for crime spree but judge says no more

“The protection of the community is paramount,” Judge Snell said.

Andrews, 29, was sentenced to three months of home detention on charges he admitted earlier of threatening to kill, assaulting police, intentional damage and assault.

On the morning of Monday, October 20 last year, Andrews was at the Nelson Hospital emergency department, waiting to see a doctor.

He became frustrated and aggressive at the wait time, threw a pen at staff and started kicking the doors.

Security asked him to leave and locked the door behind him, but Andrews returned and smashed the security door by kicking and punching it.

Judge Snell said a statement from the hospital’s security manager said the incident placed patients at significant risk, some of whom were children who were left shaken and afraid.

“It created fear among patients, who were people already in distress, seeking treatment,” he said.

Police arrived and arrested Andrews, but a few hours later, while at premises that accommodate people in need, he started playing music “very loud” and became aggressive when asked to turn it down.

Andrews then went on a rampage, smashing items at the property before being told to leave and that the police were being called.

It angered Andrews further, who then chased someone, kicked him and tried to punch him.

The victim ran inside and locked the door while Andrew left on a bike. He returned minutes later and threw a rock through a glass door, which he then unlocked and entered the premises and again began throwing items around.

He was arrested in central Nelson and told police he’d “lost it” after waiting at hospital for eight hours, but he wasn’t going to hurt anyone.

A week later, while Andrews was being moved to another cell at the Nelson Police Station after shoving a T-shirt down the toilet and flooding his own cell, he said he would “punch any staff member who tried to move him”.

Less than an hour later, as a staff member went to check Andrews, he threatened to kill the staff member and his family.

“I’ll find you when I get bail tomorrow. I’ll track you down and find you. I will kill you and then I’ll kill your wife and then I’ll kill your kids,” the police summary of facts said.

“I will kill all your family, I’m going to find you and kill you.”

Andrews then shouted: “Do you know who I am? I’m a Killer Bee – I’m a gang member. We know where you pigs live. I’ll pay someone who’ll track you down, find your address and I will kill you.”

About three minutes later, Andrews pressed his cell intercom and told the staff member, who recorded it on his cellphone, that he was “Robert Andrews, the great Mother F***er”, in another tirade of threats.

He later said he didn’t mean any of it, and that it was “fake” and “just acting”.

“It may look like I’m going to do it, but I’m not going to do it,” he said.

Judge Snell said the threat was made with gang overtones, family members were threatened and that he would get others to do it, which made it more serious.

The next evening, after Andrews had been released, he was drinking at a local hotel when he got angry at another patron and smashed a glass bottle on a table, but it didn’t break so he used the bottle to smash a window.

Police arrived and arrested him.

While in custody on other matters, and while being moved from his court cell to a vehicle outside, Andrews started abusing police staff.

When the door of the vehicle was opened, he spat into the face of a police officer, hitting him in the eyes and the mouth with his spit, while threatening to “bash them all”.

Judge Snell said the officer required health checks to ensure he had not contracted any infectious disease, which was an “unacceptable situation”.

Andrews’ sentence included six months of post-detention conditions and an order that he pay reparation totalling $1800 for the damage caused across three premises.

“It’s fair that you pay that off. You should put people right for the harm caused,” Judge Snell said.

Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.