Five of the ten alleged offenders who appeared in the Auckland High Court for a depositions hearing - which ran for four weeks from October 10 relating to Operation Strike - have pleaded guilty to 122 of the 297 charges they faced.
Consequently, it is estimated that the duration of the 2006 trial relating to the remaining charges which have been committed to trial, will take four to five weeks - less than half the time it was originally thought.
As a result of strong evidence presented at the depositions hearing, Drew Norman pleaded guilty to 18 charges, including two firearm aggravated robberies of Chubb Vans and several large value burglaries including a million dollar burglary of Car Haulaways in Otahuhu, $150,000 burglary of Etage in Newmarket and a $50,000 burglary of the International Art Centre in Parnell in which three expensive artworks were stolen.
Nicholas Jones, 27, pleaded guilty to 29 charges
Richard Tikitiki, 27, pleaded guilty to 18 charges
Christopher Wise, 27, pleaded guilty to 11 charges
Justin Abel, 23, pleaded guilty to 21 charges.
Guilty pleas by offenders during depositions can reduce custodial sentences by up to 30 per cent.
The remaining five offenders - Michael Baleitavuki, 28; Travis Lowe, 29; Paul Robinson, 23; Che Tarau, 26 and George Haslam, 27 - have been committed to trial to face a combined total of 102 further charges.
Baleitavuki, Lowe and Robinson are also due to appear in the Auckland District Court on Thursday [November 10] to face various charges relating to their alleged escapes from custody on October 27 while en-route to the Auckland High Court from Mt Eden Prison.
They and one other - Jones, who has pleaded guilty to escaping - are accused of breaking out of a Chubb Security van at about 8.50am that day.
Throughout the 7-month long Operation Strike investigation, Police from the Auckland City and Counties Manukau Districts recovered six firearms and laid charges relating to the unlawful taking of more than a million dollars worth of high performance vehicles, more than $50,000 of fraudulent use of credit cards and the thefts of valuable art works from a Parnell gallery.
ENDS
Issued by Noreen Hegarty
Auckland City Police Communications Manager
Ph 09 302 6947 or 0274-951-589
Website: www.police.govt.nz