Couple's night in cow shed leads to charges

A cow shed was a wayward couple's refuge for a night. But their time on the run was running out. PHOTO/FILE

Two alleged car thieves, who took refuge from the law in a cow shed on an Eketahuna property, will face Palmerston North District Court next week.

The Napier couple in their early 30s had allegedly stolen a silver Nissan Pulsar and the plates from a different silver Nissan Pulsar in Napier and had broken down on Hamua-Rongamai Rd in Eketahuna, leaving the car.

Police Constable Donna Olliver said a farming couple from the area had noticed the deserted car and had called police.

"I went there and what we noticed was that there was a full box of beer, packet of smokes, full petrol can in the car and a whole lot of clothing, so we knew the culprits were still somewhere around the area," she said.

"They hadn't abandoned the vehicle. They'd definitely broken down and were coming back to it."

Police advised the farming couple to "lock things up" that night. The next day it was discovered the errant pair had slept rough in the couple's shed and allegedly stolen some jackets.

The farming couple, who wished to remain anonymous, said they had spotted a "suspicious" young couple the next morning as they were driving towards Eketahuna with no bags and called police.

"It turns out, sure enough, that was them from the car," Ms Olliver said.

"They were wearing jackets that they'd stolen from that same farmer's shed."

She said the couple will appear at Palmerston District Court on July 5 on a few charges involving breaking into cars.