Ashley Charles Old (30) appeared in the Dunedin District Court this week where new details were revealed about the heists.
The defendant and an associate - who cannot be named for legal reasons - donning masks and hooded tops to hide their faces, entered Mosgiel’s Crofters Bar at 10.45pm on August 26.
Only seven people were there at the time, the court heard.
Old kept watch while his co-defendant, wielding a sawn-off shotgun, jumped the bar and began prodding the duty manager in her back, demanding to know where the safe was.
Spotting some containers full of $2 coins, the man passed them to Old while he repeated his inquiries about where the cash was kept.
"[He] continued to prod the manager with the firearm until she showed him where the safe was," court documents said.
The duo left the premises with three till trays, which were later found empty beside a rural road in Allanton.
It is believed the men got away with about $5000.
Just days earlier, on August 13, the same two men along with a third unidentified man went to a Caversham home.
The resident was watching a movie with a woman when the trio burst in through the back door.
Between them, the men brandished three machetes, a hammer and a set of nunchucks.
After demanding the victims get on the floor, Old’s associate grabbed a set of car keys from the coffee table.
The men proceeded to "trash" the lounge, opening cupboards and throwing property around while warning the victims not to move.
One of them punched the male victim in the face before they stole cash, banks cards, identification, four pairs of shoes and various electronics.
The man refused to give them the passcode for a cellphone and was again punched in the head.
"When the victim fell to the ground, an unknown defendant stomped on his head," a police summary said.
The defendants loaded the stolen property into bags, but the getaway lacked cohesion.
As they tried to take a television out of the house, they tripped and dropped it on the floor, breaking the screen.
They discarded it and left the home, yelling "no cops".
When police executed a search warrant at Old’s home they found a hammer inside a mattress base in his room.
He told officers he had gone to the Caversham address to steal cannabis.
Aggravated robbery carries a maximum penalty of 14 years’ imprisonment.
Old will be sentenced in January. His co-defendant will appear in court again later this month.
