Police find 400 stolen items
A WOMAN found with a ‘‘veritable Fagin’s den’’ of stolen goods in her home — worth nearly $23,000 — has dodged a prison term.
When police raided 44yearold Sheena Margaret Macintosh Daisley’s Brockville home, they found pilfered items in every room of the property, including the basement.
Almost every appliance in the kitchen was identified by police as stolen.
Daisley appeared in the Dunedin District Court yesterday after pleading guilty to receiving $22,961 of property in more than 400 items.
‘‘It’s pretty stupid I didn’t think it was stolen,’’ the defendant admitted.
Between December 2017 and June 2018, there were nearly 20 burglaries targeting Dunedin’s most salubrious suburbs.
Police said $120,000 of goods were taken including jewellery, firearms and family heirlooms.
In July, 29yearold Benjamin Zachery Burgess was imprisoned for four years seven months after admitting responsibility for eight of the burglaries.
A 41yearold man has denied his role in the spree and will appear in court next month.
Judge Michael Crosbie sentenced Daisley to eight and ahalf months’ home detention and blasted her for her ‘‘lousy attitude’’.
The defendant spent most of yesterday’s hearing swaying side to side in the dock and voiced concerns about how long the process was taking.
‘‘I’ve got real doubts you’ll serve home detention without breach,’’ the judge said.
‘‘If you don’t, there’s only one option.’’
Daisley claimed she was helping a friend store their belongings and did not spend a lot of time at the house so was not fully aware of the issue.
Judge Crosbie said it was ‘‘unthinkable’’ Daisley could have believed it was anything other than a huge haul of stolen property.
‘‘Receivers are simply the market for burglars; people who look after goods, buy goods, take goods, distribute goods from burglars provide them with the motivation to do it,’’ he said.
Daisley is serving a sentence of home detention for unrelated offending.
She and a friend tried to swindle a mutual acquaintance out of $10,000 by trying to portray him as a paedophile. They recorded conversations during which the man made disclosures, which they threatened to use against him.
‘‘You are as close as you possibly can be to going to prison,’’ Judge Crosbie said.