By Belinda Feek, Open Justice reporter of 
The trio all met while serving sentences at Spring Hill Corrections Facility at Hampton Downs, in north Waikato. Photo: NZPA
A budding friendship born behind bars appears to have gone awry once three inmates were released and one ended up with a shotgun being pointed in his face while he was robbed by the other two.
The attack happened after the victim went to visit the other two men with news about a potential new job.
However, things didn't go as planned and Zion Jones-Rasey pointed a cut-down, side-by-side shotgun at the victim's face, while his co-offender unleashed a flurry of 10 punches to his head.
After being driven to an ATM to withdraw all the money from his account, the victim was sent on his way. Although he wasn't injured, he was left "traumatised".
Jones-Rasey appeared in the Hamilton District Court on Monday for sentencing on charges of kidnapping, unlawfully carrying a firearm and aggravated robbery after the incident on 10 February last year.
It was always going to be another prison sentence for the 32-year-old - it was just a matter of how long.
'I'll blow your head off'
Jones-Rasey, a 27-year-old co-offender and the 30-year-old victim all first met and became associated while in prison together at Spring Hill in mid-2023.
On release later that year, the victim moved to Pukekohe while the two others went to their respective homes in eastern Waikato.
The trio caught up a few times before the victim tried to contact Jones-Rasey about a job opportunity.
Not getting a reply, he contacted a female associate before arranging to drive to her property in Tower Road, Matamata.
However, when he arrived, Jones-Rasey walked out with the firearm, while the co-offender attacked him before yelling "You're lucky I didn't put you in hospital or blow your kneecaps out".
The victim was shocked and unaware of why he was attacked.
The co-offender then grabbed the shotgun and began stealing items from his car, including his Samsung phone and car keys.
The victim asked Jones-Rasey what was going on and was told that he owed his co-offender money, which he would need to pay to get his keys back.
He gave him $100 cash, but with his assailants wanting more, the victim was driven to the ANZ ATM in Matamata, where the co-offender told him that if he didn't give him his pin number he'd "blow his head off".
He only had $190 in his account, which was withdrawn. They were then driven back to Tower Road, where the co-offender said, "Take your piece-of-s*** car and don't let me see you back around these ways."
The co-offender said the victim could get his phone back if he performed oral sex on him, but the victim declined.
Jones-Rasey admitted most of what happened when questioned by police, before saying he got involved because of "peer pressure" as he and his co-offender were affiliated with the same gang.
'He's a dedicated dad'
Jones-Rasey's counsel Mark Sturm said his client was keen to shake his drug addiction and had been in touch with Odyssey House about placement once he is released later this year.
His mother also wrote the court a letter, outlining her son's difficult upbringing and exposure to violence and gangs.
As for Jones-Rasey, Sturm said he could see a better life for himself in the future.
"He's a dedicated dad to two daughters who are in the care of his mum.
"But at the age of 32, there's light at the end of his tunnel."
He had also offered to participate in restorative justice but the victim could not be reached, and Sturm urged Judge Philip Crayton to slash a "chunk" from his initial sentence indication for upbringing and rehab factors.
But Crown Solicitor Lexie Glasier urged the judge to take care doing that, as Jones-Rasey had a long criminal history, encompassing 10 pages.
"While there might be these matters, they are significantly outweighed by the need to deter and denounce the defendant," Glasier submitted, suggesting a modest 5 percent acknowledgement.
Judge Crayton noted Jones-Rasey's comments in a pre-sentence report about his "perception of his role" in what happened.
"You were actively involved in this offending.
"You were armed with a sawn-off shotgun which you pointed at the complainant.
"That of course is not a physical assault, but it is an assault in terms of the violence threatened in the most graphic and in fact, the most dramatic way."
From a starting point of five and a half years, he allowed various discounts, including for Jones-Rasey's his plea and upbringing, before coming to an end term of four years and two months, which would result in him being released in about five months.
* This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald.
