Details emerge on arsenal of weapons stolen from Dunedin house

The charges stemmed from a high-profile burglary of the Maitland St home of a gun club member on October 25. Photo / Stephen Jaquiery, Otago Daily Times

A man found out about an arsenal of weapons in a Dunedin house after his co-defendant's girlfriend had been there ''in relation to work'', the Dunedin District Court was told yesterday.

The man then posed as a glazier while breaking in to steal a cache of firearms and ammunition.

Raymond Jason Mosley (39) admitted the burglary, ammunition and 14 firearms charges when he appeared in court yesterday.

The charges stemmed from a high-profile burglary of the Maitland St home of a gun club member on October 25.

Allegedly stolen from the unsecured cabinet were 23 pistols, 25,000 rounds of ammunition, four military-style semi-automatic rifles with scopes and a shotgun.

Police have been tight-lipped about the circumstances surrounding the burglary but new details were revealed in court yesterday

The day after Mosley found out about the arsenal he and the co-accused - who cannot be named - pretended to be repairing a glass panel on the house's front door and gained access.

Within days, the man was allegedly in contact with senior Hells Angels in the North Island with a view to them buying the weapons, the court heard.

On November 2, police searched a Greenhill St house where one of Mosley's associates lived, and found an item connected to the burglary.

With it was a note.

''I got ur pistol sorted, pay that $ and its urs,'' it said.

The Bandidos motorcycle gang were also informed by the co-accused about the firearms and a couple of patched members were flown to Dunedin on November 7.

Grant Andrew Latimer (57) was one of the men sent down. He picked up the weapons from a Canongate address.

The car he was driving was stopped by police in Waikouaiti the following day and officers found a pistol on him.

Meanwhile, another search was conducted at a Waitati house, which turned up three more firearms and ammunition.

Latimer pleaded guilty to four counts of possessing a weapon and four of receiving, as well as possessing ammunition.

He was jailed for 20 months earlier this year.

The court heard yesterday how the police operation to recover the firearms stretched to several suburbs of Dunedin.

Mosley admitted contacting a 25-year-old Dunedin woman about storing a pistol at her Caversham home.

Police found the weapon there along with nearly 100 rounds of ammunition and a scope.

She is due in court again this month.

Mosley was eventually caught by police when a car in Timaru was stopped on an unrelated matter.

Officers found a meth pipe, 0.32g of the class-A drug and 17.4g of cannabis in his possession.

Mosley also admitted those drug charges in court yesterday and entered guilty pleas to a couple of counts of breaching previous sentences.

He was remanded in custody and will be sentenced in April.