Siblings charged with stealing landlord's whiteware

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A brother and sister who sold whiteware belonging to the brother's landlord have been charged with theft after the landlord found his items in a secondhand store.

Saara Spotswood, 24, and Dion Spotswood, 20, appeared in Napier District Court yesterday where the pair pleaded guilty to a charge of theft in relation to the incident.

They also pleaded guilty to a charge of burglary in relation to an incident in which Saara Spotswood jumped the fence of a local Thai restaurant and stole beer from inside.

A police summary of facts said Dion had been living in a flat in Napier but was evicted by his landlord after troubles with his tenancy.

On September 5, a day before Dion was due to move out, his sister Saara came to the property and the pair decided to sell a washing machine and a fridge freezer belonging to the landlord.

The two items were valued at $800.

Saara placed a call to Grant Galgey, the owner of Honest Rob's, a secondhand store, and asked if he would like to purchase the fridge freezer and washing machine.

Mr Galgey went to pick up the items from the flat and paid Saara $155 for both.

She told him she was about to move to Christchurch for a job there and did not want to take the items with her.

However the next day the plan was foiled when the landlord turned up at his property for an inspection.

He subsequently reported the items stolen and began making enquiries around second hand stores in Napier.

On September 9 the landlord discovered his property at Honest Rob's and the goods were returned to the address by Mr Galgey.

Dion and Saara admitted planning and selling the fridge freezer and washing machine knowing that the items did not belong to them.

Yesterday the court heard the pair were both struggling with addiction issues which Judge Anne- Marie Skellern urged them to get under control.

She sentenced Saara to nine months supervision and ordered her to attend a residential treatment facility.

"The difficulties you have with alcohol are at the heart of this offending, that is very clear to me ... Unless you genuinely make every effort to overcome your addiction issues your risk of re- offending is very high."

Judge Skellern ordered Saara to pay $77.50 in reparation to Mr Galgey.

Dion was remanded on bail to reappear for sentencing in December.