Crewman admits ferry pillaging

Press, 29 August 1978, Page 2

Crewman admits ferry pillaging

Nelson reporter

Goods “very conservatively” valued at $60,000 had been pillaged by crew from the rail ferry Aratika between February, 1977, and July, 1978, Mr K. H. J. Headifen, S.M., was told in the Magistrate’s Court at Nelson yesterday. Barry Ray Millington, aged 27, a seaman—one of 14 seamen on the Aratika whose homes were searched recently by the police—admitted two charges related to pillaging on the ferry. He was charged with receiving clothing, canned goods, a radio, 18 cassettes and a cassette-holder of a total value of $452 and with the theft of a four-litre can of paint valued at $13.95, all the property of the Railways. He was remanded on bail to September 12 for a probation officer’s report and sentence.

Sergeant D. Allen said the $60,000 valuation of property pillaged related only to reported thefts and was a very conservative total of all the property stolen. Extensive investigations by the C.I.D. had shown that the goods had been pillaged while on the ferry and not before or after sailing, he said. During the three hour 20 minute crossings, deck crew security alarms and taking the property they required, said Sergeant Allen. “Pillaging is systematic and highly organised by crew members for a readymade market off the ferry,” he said.

In December, 1977, detectives searched the address of a former crew member of the Aratika and recovered about $4OOO worth of property, he said. On August 24, simultaneous searches were made on the homes of another 14

members broke into rail waggons by disconnecting crew members around New Zealand, all of whom were employed on one shift on the Aratika. The defendant’s home was one of those searched and property conservatively estimated at $452, and all in new condition, was found. Inquiries confirmed that all this property had been reported as having been pillaged during the period under investigation. The actual legal ownership of the property had not been established because of the huge inquiry involved, he said. The defendant had told detectives that he had either

bought or had been given the items concerned over the last 12 months. He would not name the persons involved, said Sergeant Allen. A New Plymouth seaman, who appeared in the Magistrate’s Court at New Plymouth yesterday, was remanded without plea until September 11 on a charge that at Wellington on or about August 22 he received four Sanyo car cassette radios and eight speakers valued at $776, knowing they were dishonestly obtained, the Press Association reports. Peter Edward Capper, aged 49, was allowed bail of $4OO, with a $4OO surety, by Mr H. Gilbert, S.M.