Two staff members at a Hamilton dairy have been left traumatised after the store was robbed twice in one month.
Robbers armed with knives last month threatened a customer and a staff member in the dairy before raiding the store’s tobacco cabinet.
The unidentified staff member says she was left terrified following the incident.
“One of them was standing all those five or six minutes putting that knife on my waist so that I don’t do anything and I was like, that was so scary. They grabbed the coins - 20 cents, 10 cents - and smashed on my face,” she said.
Robbers struck the same dairy at 5am this morning, with the tobacco cabinet again the target.
An unidentified part-time staff member living upstairs says she feared for her life following the second incident.
“You wake up to a loud noise, it startles you awake and I was like, shaking inside cause I was like, what’s going on?’” she said.
“Look out and see [the robbers], panic - don’t really feel safe here and want to work here or want to live here, which is a shame.”
Just one packet of loose tobacco can retail for around $110. It’s estimated the tobacco stolen across the two robberies could value at $35,000.
“The cigarettes are gold for them - it’s gold,” dairy owner Harry Luther told 1 NEWS.
He said the stolen goods will be sold “on the black market, most of them going on a Facebook garage sales page”.
Luther says he had recently sold a previous dairy after it was robbed seven times.
The new business was bought in January.
Luther is now calling for tougher penalties as police told him a nearby dairy was also robbed this morning.
“They have no fear, they know that they are going to get away with this,” he said.
“Government need to make tougher laws where if something like this happens, even though they’re young, they should still go to jail.”
Today’s robbery was one too many for the staff member involved in the first incident.
“I’m getting panic attacks. Last night, I got [a] panic attack because of this. Everything hits me back – I can’t work over here. I just told these guys I’m just leaving my job.”
Luther says increasing security is going to cost him at least $50,000 for the installation of a new door, bars, counter, and improvements to the locks in the building. A fog cannon used to deter burglars is also under consideration.
A police spokesperson told 1 NEWS in a statement that items such as cigarettes and tobacco “have always been popular with thieves, with some anecdotal evidence suggesting that these small, high value items are targeted in small business burglaries and robberies”.
“We continue to work with large and small retailers to help prevent crimes such as theft and robbery occurring at their premises.
“Anyone trading in or receiving stolen items can face serious charges if caught and anyone involved with the illegal selling or buying of tobacco or other products is likely to find themselves the subject of police interest.”
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