Stolen gold dredge recovered by owner in Trade Me ‘sale’, thief sentenced

A stolen gold dredge worth $40,000 was recovered by the owner, in bits, when the thief put it up for sale on a Trade Me auction. Photo/ Nigel Marple

A custom-made $40,000 gold dredge stolen after it was advertised for sale on Trade Me was recovered by the owner who spotted it for sale by the thief - on Trade Me.

He arranged to “buy” the dredge but instead took it back without paying the $500 sought by Ryan Anthony Robertson, who had asked for the money to be left in his letterbox.

Robertson admitted to stealing the dredge, and other offences, and has now been sentenced to seven-and-a-half months’ home detention.

The Nelson District Court heard yesterday that the crimes were motivated by the 32-year-old’s dependency on methamphetamine at the time.

He stole the dredge after the owner had put it up for sale on Trade Me in December 2021 with a price tag of $40,000.

While the owner continued to use it pending a sale, he stowed it in bushes, out of sight, near the Anatoki River in Tākaka on land owned by the Rainbow Valley Community.

The dredge was stolen from beside the Anatoki River, near Tākaka. Photo / 123RF

The community is described online as an “intentional community based on concepts of shared land, community events, cooperative participation, and non‑violence”.

While there was no public access to the area where the dredge had been left, sometime between December 19 and December 28, Robertson went on to the community’s grounds and removed the dredge, in pieces.

The court heard he took the engines, pump, compressor and winch from its frame, but instead of dismantling it properly he simply cut the wires and pipes. During this process, he broke part of an engine when he dropped it.

Then on December 28, he listed the items for sale on Trade Me for $500.

The owner of the dredge was alerted to the listing and was able to confirm by the photographs posted on the site that it was his. Police said it was “easily recognisable” because of its custom design.

The owner then signaled his interest in the item and contacted Robertson, who arranged for the dredge to be collected from his address in Wakefield. Robertson asked that the $500 be left in his mailbox if he wasn’t home.

The owner went to the address and picked up the various parts, some of which were missing. Robertson wasn’t home so the owner took the gear and left without paying, the court heard.

He then messaged Robertson, who in turn admitted to the owner he had taken the dredge and that the missing bits were in his car, which had been impounded by the police.

He offered to return them once he got his car back but by March last year the parts still hadn’t been returned and Robertson told the victim he’d sold them because he needed the money.

Robertson offered him a five-tonne winch instead but the victim wasn’t keen and contacted the police.

The owner of the dredge said the cost to repair it and replace the missing parts was $4700.

In court, Judge Pippa Sinclair acknowledged efforts by Robertson’s father, who was in court to support his son, to stand by him, and to offer an address at which he could serve home detention.

She said it was clear Robertson’s father initially had reservations about him being home, but Robertson had since shown efforts to improve himself by helping out around the house and by the steps he’d taken to quit his drug dependency, helped by a month he had spent in custody on remand.

Judge Sinclair also acknowledged Robertson’s personal circumstances, including his struggle to address grief issues over the death of his mother when he was younger.

She said an alcohol and drug report noted his use of methamphetamine was linked to his offending and if he could abstain from that, it would reduce his risk of re-offending.

Judge Sinclair arrived at a prison term of 16 to 17 months, taking into account uplifts and discounts, which was within the two-year limit where home detention could be considered as an alternative sentence.

Robertson was also sentenced on three charges of driving while disqualified for a third or subsequent time, his part in the theft of a $5000 e-bike, and for giving false information.

In September last year, he and a co-offender took the e-bike from the grounds of the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology.

On the driving charges, Robertson was disqualified for three years. He was also ordered to pay $7200 in reparation, of which $2500 was a half share in the value of the stolen e-bike.

He was convicted and discharged on two charges of breaching bail.