A Dunedin man with ''major mental-health illnesses'' has been jailed for more than two years after robbing a taxi driver of $100.
And because it was Tai Daya Somerford's second-strike offence, he will serve the entire term without parole.
Defence counsel Anne Stevens told the Dunedin District Court yesterday the 22-year-old was experiencing ''demons'' in the early hours of January 5.
He and three associates were picked up by a taxi in Great King St.
Two of the passengers were dropped off in Northeast Valley and told the driver the two remaining - Somerford and Janelle Sharon Pennicott (34) - would pay the fare.
They directed the cab to Ainslee Place but when the victim stopped,
Pennicott jabbed an ''unknown sharp object'', she claimed was her fingernail, into the driver's left shoulder.
''I don't want to hurt you, just give us all your money,'' she said.
Somerford reached over and snatched about $100 from the man's belt pouch and they ran off towards Chingford Park.
The victim pursued and there was a brief scuffle before the robbers made their escape.
Pennicott was jailed for two and a-half years when she was sentenced in May but her co-offender's situation, the court heard yesterday, was more complex.
Mrs Stevens said her client was an in-patient at Wakari Hospital who ''suffers from a very severe condition''.
Somerford, who was on release conditions after being jailed for previous violence, was not receiving any treatment at the time for his drug and alcohol issues, she said.
Mrs Stevens urged Judge Kevin Phillips to place the defendant on intensive supervision - a sentence she said would address his risk factors.
Probation assessed Somerford as a high risk of reoffending and medium-to-high risk of harm to others.
Crown prosecutor Catherine Ure submitted nothing but a custodial sentence would do.
She said the defendant had failed to abide by community-based sentences in the past and the court had a duty to protect the public.
Judge Phillips stressed he had to sentence Somerford on the basis of the law, not by looking at the man standing in the dock before him.
He sentenced the man to two years and one month in prison.
''Prison for this man will be more difficult than for many, but in the end it's my considered view I have no option.''
