Man charged over theft of prized Dannevirke huia

A Dannevirke man has been charged over the theft of a museum-housed huia. Photo / File

A man has been charged with the theft of a huia bird, valued at more than $1,000, from the Dannevirke Gallery of History.

The gallery reported the theft of its prized female huia, which was displayed in a glass-fronted case along with a male huia, in July last year.

Dean Bradley Mudgway entered no plea to the charge when he appeared in Dannevirke District Court this month.

He also faced 11 charges including burglary, theft, shoplifting, possessing utensils for using methamphetamine, possessing cannabis, possessing methamphetamine, offensive behaviour and possessing an offensive weapon.

Counsel Clifford Church said Mudgway had already been in custody for four months.

He entered guilty pleas to seven of the charges.

Church said Mudgway had applied to attend a drug rehabilitation facility in Wellington as he had been a methamphetamine addict for 25 years.

He also wished to attend restorative justice and was seeking a cultural report which looks at a person's family, whānau, community, and cultural background.

Mudgway will appear in court again on March 5.

Meanwhile, a man with 23 previous convictions for driving while suspended or disqualified was remanded in custody on three new charges when he appeared in the Dannevirke District Court.

Mariano Hapai Vella, 31, also faced charges of receiving property valued at more than $1,000 and two charges of breaching community detention.

Judge Bruce Northwood said Vella faced three active charges of driving while suspended. The latest charges dated from November 7, December 8 and January 24.

He said Vella's original licence suspension was because of reaching the demerit points limit.

"The difficulty now to be considered is your criminal history. In the past judges have shown leniency to keep you out of prison but now the end of the road has been reached."

Judge Northwood convicted and remanded Vella in custody on all charges for a pre-sentence report.

He will reappear on March 5.

Also appearing in court was Kerry Panayotis Rodgers, 26, who faced two charges of shoplifting a handbag and jewellery.

Judge Northwood said this was fairly serious offending as these were both high-value items.

However, he said Rodgers took responsibility for the thefts.

"You came clean with the police and helped locate them."

He was fined $300 and $130 costs on the first charge and convicted and discharged on the second charge.