Man who never raises his voice has 340 convictions

He could be just another of the thousands dressed in suits in inner-city Wellington on any given weeknight. But this well-dressed smooth talker is anything but your average businessman.

While Stacey Anthony Spinks might choose his disguises so he doesn't stand out from the crowd, he does - with a criminal record that runs to 340 convictions, including 274 for burglary.

The 34-year-old pleaded guilty last week to three charges of burglary - the first committed the day he left prison in May.

Wellington District Court judge Bruce Davidson jailed Auckland-born Spinks for two years.

The itinerant backpacker has spent most of his adult life in prison. But not just one prison. For Spinks has travelled the length of the country committing burglaries, usually for just a handful of cash.

Broad daylight was his domain. For this unusual burglar worked on the principle that if nothing seemed out of place, no one would get suspicious.

His conviction list confirms the audacity of his crimes. Spinks has 12 convictions for posing as a policeman. He used a business card he obtained from police to pass himself off as a detective.

Dressed in his trademark suit, he then approached business owners asking what security measures they had in place and offered some tips of his own.

It worked. In one of his biggest hauls, Spinks made off with $9000 from an Auckland hotel in 1996 after staff allowed him to inspect a safe. On other occasions he pretended to be a security guard, with similar results.

Several times he escaped detection by the skin of his teeth by smooth-talking his way out of trouble. He never panicked, raised his voice, or ran away. He was also known to use at least seven aliases.

Nothing was off-limits, or too big or small. Spinks once gatecrashed a private function at the Wellington department store Kirkcaldie & Stains, walking in unnoticed while a band was playing. During the evening, he slipped under a partly open grille into the lingerie department. When the partygoers departed he rifled the tills looking for money.

Spinks couldn't find any cash, though he did $3000 damage by smashing his way out of the grille so he could leave before the store opened the next day.

In 2002, while at Rolleston Prison, Spinks was admitted to Christchurch Hospital with apparent chest pains. He soon took off, burgling the hospital restaurant - ironically called The Great Escape - along the way. He was found by police in a city massage parlour the next morning.

A year later, while facing charges in Christchurch District Court, he "collapsed" again. Rushed to the hospital, he again ran off, and was found a week later at a Wellington backpacker hostel.

For such a barefaced burglar, Spinks gives little away. Police know little about his background before he started on a life of crime when aged 14. From there, his life is best tracked through his criminal record.

Efforts to find out more about his background have met a stony silence. It is believed he has family in Auckland, but has never married. What is known is that he has undergone the full gamut of the justice system, starting with corrective training and periodic detention and jail.

Wherever he stays in New Zealand, Spinks' methods are remarkably similar. He holes up in a backpackers hostel, and suddenly the burglary rate at surrounding businesses soars. Always well-dressed and well-spoken, he gives no cause for suspicion.

Acting on security camera footage the police went looking for him after his latest bout of burglaries. They tracked him to a panelbeating business, where they found him, still impeccably dressed, hiding under a car. He had been free for four days.

- NZPA