“Robbery For Sex Change” (Press, 28 June 1974)

On 27 June 1974, it was reported that three youths were involved in an armed robbery at the Epuni post office in Lower Hutt to fund a sex-change operation for a friend. This incident took place in May and the amount sought for the operation was between NZD 4,000 and NZD 5,000. Danny Frederick Lee John Woolrich, a 19-year-old entertainer known as Debbie Lombard, made a statement to the police indicating that the robbery was aimed at raising money for his gender reassignment surgery. Woolrich, along with three other defendants—22-year-old truck driver Allan Donaghue, 20-year-old driver Trevor Robert Raree, and 19-year-old unemployed workman James David Aami—faced charges relating to the robbery. During the two-day hearing at the Lower Hutt Magistrate’s Court, Woolrich appeared dressed as a woman throughout. All four individuals pleaded not guilty to the charges. The specific charges against Donaghue, Raree, and Aami included robbing post office teller Theresa Mead of NZD 991.81 while armed with an offensive weapon. They were also charged for being armed with the same weapon during a separate incident on the same day in Eastbourne, attempting to rob an officer of the Commercial Bank of Australia, and conspiring to commit an aggravated robbery of an officer at the Eastbourne post office. Following the depositions, the case was referred to the Wellington Supreme Court for trial.

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