22 July 2008
A man who claimed thieves stole over 130 restricted firearms from his Hot Water Beach home pled guilty to illegally selling them, in the Hamilton District Court yesterday.
John Noel MABEY, 43, told Police the 132 firearms, including pistols, assault rifles and machineguns, were taken in a burglary in July last year.
Police, however, maintained MABEY had in fact sold the weapons between January 2005 and July 2007.
Entering a guilty plea in relation to 30 of the weapons MABEY was granted bail to reappear in the Hamilton District Court on 05 September.
Detective Constable Alan Lee of Thames CIB said one of the disturbing aspects of the case was that, so far, only 9 of the firearms had been recovered.
"And several of those were in the possession of known criminals," he said.
Last year Waikato Police offered an amnesty from prosecution to anyone able to provide information on the whereabouts of any of the missing guns.
This appeal was unsuccessful and Mr Lee said the recovery of the weapons remained a priority.
"Anyone with any information on the location of any of these weapons is asked to contact their nearest Police Station," he said
End