A disqualified driver, already on bail on other driving charges, stole a funeral director's truck with five empty caskets on the back, Dunedin District Court was told yesterday.
Zane Taitoa Currie, 18, then of Balclutha, removed the truck from the yard of J G Henderson and Son Ltd on June 16.
A company employee was working in a shed and the truck was backed up to the building with five caskets loosely stacked on the back.
Currie, who had been drinking with two others at a house in north Balclutha, started the vehicle and drove off, the court was told.
A funeral company employee opened the driver's door in an effort to stop him but had to let go, prosecutor Sergeant Paul Knox said.
