16 Ingots Of Tin Stolen From Mill

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30895, 30 October 1965, Page 16

16 Ingots Of Tin Stolen From Mill

The theft of 16 ingots of tin, weighing about two-thirds of a ton and worth £1125, from the Dominion Lead Mills, Ltd., 328 Hereford street, on Wednesday night, has caused the police to seek the co-operation of the public.

The Chief Detective (Mr S. B. McEwen) said yesterday that the tin ingots had been removed from the back of the premises, lifted over a 6ft fence and carried across the grounds of a private house to a vehicle in Cashel street. Copper wire and lead, worth thousands of pounds, had been left undisturbed in the firm’s premises, which indicated that the person or persons who had committed the burglary had broken into the premises to steal the tin. The tin ingots weighed 1001 b each and were 17in by 7in wide and 6in deep. They were stamped “D.L.M., Lyttelton,” on the face and “Malaysia Straits Settlement” under the lugs at each end of the ingots.

The ingots could not be exported, as such, or melted down and smelted with lead—an easy task as the melting point of tin was low and lower than lead—without a permit from the Industries and Commerce and Customs Department, said Mr McEwen. Therefore it was probable that the offenders would probably dispose of the ingots within New Zealand and, because no tin was exported from New Zealand and had to be imported from Australia or Malaysia, probably had arranged, or been told of, a market for the tin within New Zealand. The market in New Zealand was a specific and narrow one.

The police had cast a wide net, but the co-operation of the public was sought in preventing the stolen tin finding a market. The type of theft suggested that a possible source of disposal had been arranged and any person who was offered cheap tin or tin-lead alloy for sale was urgently requested to get in touch with the police. Any person or persons who bought tin or alloy from a source that was known to be suspect rendered themselves liable to a charge of receiving, Mr McEwen said.