Stolen medals recovered after online sale

A West Coast man's stolen Royal New Zealand Navy medals were spotted for sale on Trade Me. File photo / NZ Herald

A West Coast man has recovered his Royal New Zealand Navy medals, stolen in a burglary at his home in Northland four years ago, after a friend spotted them for sale on Trade Me.

The navy issued Martin Sweetman two medals for 12 years' service from 1962. One was for general service, and the other for his time in Borneo in the early 1960s.

Mr Sweetman, now living in Granity near Westport, said he had written his medals off, believing them to be "gone forever".

However, when he attended a two-yearly navy reunion in Palmerston North about a month ago his friend told him the medals were on Trade Me.

Mr Sweetman searched on the internet when they arrived home. They managed to retrieve the old sale - a Christchurch seller with a five-star rating had sold the medals to two Auckland buyers.

The first buyer had returned them as the medals weren't what he had anticipated. The other buyer had had the medals since July.

The image of the medals on the advertisement clearly showed Mr Sweetman's engraved name and identification number. He said he found it hard to fathom why no checks were made.

He had previously advised the navy of the stolen medals.

Mr Sweetman went to Community Constable Paul Sampson and Trade Me for assistance in recovering the medals.

Westport and Auckland police worked together to track down the medals.

Police issued a search warrant for the Auckland buyer's house and had the medals sent back to their rightful owner.

Mr Sweetman was grateful to all involved: "If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't have had a result," he said.

Although he had had replacement medals made, wearing them at functions like navy reunions wasn't the same as wearing the original medals.

"It's more personal than anything. It means nothing to anyone else."

The medals had been attached to a standard issue jacket. They were among other items stolen from Mr Sweetman's house, including meat, clothes, a radio, and his wife's ashes.

The ashes had been kept in a sealed courier bag on the dressing table in his bedroom. The thieves ripped open the bag, tried to reseal it, then stuffed it in the letterbox.