The man who sparked an Armed Offenders Squad stand-off at a Rotorua bank after telling staff he had a bomb has been jailed for two years and two months.

Rhys Hoffman, 36, received the sentence at Rotorua District Court on Friday after earlier guilty pleas to charges of kidnapping and threatening to commit grievous bodily harm, all related to the incident in November last year.

Crown prosecutor Amanda Gordon read a victim impact statement from one of the bank staff, who was granted name suppression, which revealed the depth of the trauma suffered in the wake of the hostage drama.

“I was the person who greeted the offender,” they said.

“This was a terrifying ordeal. . . I thought there was a high probability of dying.”

They said they, and their family, have suffered ongoing trauma since the events of November 10 last year.

“I would have preferred a robbery to not knowing if I was going to die for a whole hour.”

They also took aim at Hoffman telling him that “for a brief period of time I felt sorry for you, now I don’t”.

“Take responsibility for what you’ve done. You are not the victim here, your hostages are.”

Hoffman’s lawyer Andy Schulze​ described his client’s offending as “a plea for help” and said Hoffman called at the Hamilton and Rotorua police stations before heading to the BNZ.

He was suffering from a persecutory belief he was being targetted by gang members, and believed police were not taking him seriously.

“The belief he was not being taken seriously led to this foolish action,” Schulze said.

He said the bank stand-off was “not a situation where a kidnapping has been planned. . . a knee-jerk behaviour.”

Judge Edwin Paul said Hoffman had 10 previous convictions, and had battled with mental health issues.

He also revealed Hoffman’s mother was murdered, and “you were required to identify her mutilated body”.

He also said Hoffman chose a bank as “you knew the police would turn up”.

“Although the weapon was fake, your victims did not know this. They believed you had a bomb and would use it,” he said.

“They believed you had the power to end their lives.”

According to the police summary of facts, Hoffman later told police he committed the offending “because he is mentally unstable and needed help”.

He had also placed an A2 size diary in the front of his jacket to give the impression a device was strapped to his body.

A staff member was able to alert other staff to the threat, and also alert the bank internal security system.

One customer was able to escape through the front door before Hoffman directed the remaining people inside to a staff-only area of the bank.

Police had also been called.

The summary said those inside the bank complied “believing their lives were in grave danger”.

Hoffman told them he would not let them leave until nine police cars were outside the bank, and he also asked staff to phone the police, Armed Offenders Squad and media.

Hoffman allowed a number of distressed people inside the bank to leave, including a 14-year-old, and by around 4pm there was “a large police presence outside the bank”.

He also began to communicate with police via phone and notes on paper he held to the window.

“These included his name, a reference to his mother being murdered, and that his life was in danger,” the summary said.

By this stage Hoffman was pacing around inside the bank, and later removed his jacket.

When police asked if he had any weapons, he lifted his shirt and spun around to show he had nothing concealed on his torso.

He was described as angry and ranting, but also telling those inside the bank “he was sorry for what he was doing”.

“At one stage, the defendant was crying and said that it was the only way he could get help.”

Police continued to negotiate with Hoffman, who eventually agreed to surrender and left the bank.

-Benn Bathgate/Stuff.