A woman who had managed to stay out of trouble for 22 years was on a methamphetamine-induced “slippery slope” when she got caught up in robbing two old ladies of their pokie winnings.

Jacqueline Rosalyn Patricia Walker, 47, was sentenced to home detention when she appeared in Napier District Court on Friday.

She was the driver when she and co-offender Jimi Nuki Haerewa, 32, got into a car and followed the two elderly women, aged 85 and 86, from the Horse and Hound bar in Hastings on March 15 last year.

They had been watching the women play the gaming machines.

The pair drove after the two women when they left, following them for about 6km to Tainui Dr in Havelock North, where Walker cut in front of their vehicle, forcing them to stop.

Haerewa ran toward the women’s car, calling them “bitches” and shouting “Give us your money” as he wrenched open the driver’s door and held them up at knifepoint.

In the struggle for the women’s handbags and cash, one victim suffered bruising to her chest and the other a cut to her right arm and a sprained finger.

Haerewa, whom police were able to track easily because he was subject to electronic monitoring and wearing an ankle bracelet, was sentenced in January this year to two years and 11 months in prison.

Both offenders pleaded guilty.

In court on Friday, Judge Bridget Mackintosh noted that Walker had a criminal history, but had not appeared before the courts since 2000. Her earlier offending was not detailed.

At the time of the robbery, she was grieving her partner, who had died suddenly, and had begun using methamphetamine.

That had put her “very much on a slippery slope”, Judge Mackintosh said.

The judge said Walker did not know Haerewa well. On the day of the robbery, he had asked her to drive him around looking for work, including inquiring at the Horse and Hound bar where they saw the two elderly women.

Defence counsel Leo Lafferty said a pre-sentence report was supportive and referred to Walker in a positive manner.

She presented in court as a completely different person psychologically and physically than at the time of her offending, he said.

Crown prosecutor James Bridgman said Walker’s narrative was that she was in the wrong place at the wrong time, using methamphetamine and blaming either her drug use or another person for her offending.

Judge Mackintosh said Haerewa had been the main offender.

“You got embroiled in a situation that you now regret. I do accept that you are remorseful,” the judge said.

Victim impact statements said the women were “not coping as well as they were”, she said, and Walker’s guilty plea had spared them the ordeal and trauma of going through a trial.

Judge Mackintosh sentenced Walker to 10 months of home detention with conditions not to consume or use alcohol or non-prescription drugs, and to undergo alcohol and drug counselling.

Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of front-line experience as a probation officer.